


Bound to the Temptation

by ruskarmelita



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: A/B/O, Accidental Knotting, Alpha Darth Vader, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angst and Feels, Biting, Blood and Injury, Breeding, Breeding Kink, Canon Divergence - Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Canon-Typical Violence, Coma, Come Eating, Complicated Relationships, Dark Theme, Developing Relationship, Dom/sub, Dominant Darth Vader, Drama & Romance, Drug Abuse, Dubious Consent, Emotional Roller Coaster, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family Drama, Filthy, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Healing Sex, Heavy Angst, Hormones, Humiliation, Hurt/Comfort, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Knotting, Large Cock, Loss of Control, Masturbation, Mating, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Memory Loss, Mentioned Padmé Amidala, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mutual Pining, Nesting, No use of y/n, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Older Man/Younger Woman, Omega Reader, Omega Verse, Orgasm Control, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Physical Abuse, Pining, Planet Mustafar (Star Wars), Porn With Plot, Possessive Behavior, Praise Kink, Protective Darth Vader, Reader-Insert, Rebellion, Rough Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Rutting, Scars, Scent Marking, Sexual Torture (Chapter 11), Shameless Smut, Sheev Palpatine Being An Asshole, Size Kink, Slow Burn, Submissive Character, Suited Darth Vader, Suitless Darth Vader, Tags Contain Spoilers, Torture, Unplanned Pregnancy, Use of word Little One, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Verbal Humiliation, Voyeurism, Warning! (Chapter 11), Wilhuff Tarkin Being an Asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:08:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 81,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27808870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruskarmelita/pseuds/ruskarmelita
Summary: In the world of the Empire being an omega or an alpha means a swift death. The Emperor's goal is to exterminate them all, including the Jedi with the help of his enforcer, Darth Vader. The only way to survive, and to hide, is to suppress your scent and to stop your heats with the help of the suppressants.You are on a mission when you receive a distress call from one of the moons. You don't realize the dangers until you crash land but by then your misfortune only continues. What happens when you inadvertently stumble upon the Dark Lord himself, who claims he's never killed an omega before? And why did he stop himself from killing you when he learns you're an omega yourself?Tags contain spoilers! Read at your own discretion.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker/Reader, Darth Vader/Reader
Comments: 424
Kudos: 1016
Collections: Alpha-Omega, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Darth Vader smutty Vibes, Reader Insert, Star Wars





	1. Rebel Scum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize this story won't be for everyone and that's okay. But this idea wouldn't leave me alone for the past few days and I just could not stop thinking about it. Ever since I stumbled upon A/B/O I couldn't help but be excited, reading more and more until this idea was born and then I wondered: was there even anything about Vader in this universe? Maybe there is, but I haven't really seen one recently and besides, I always want to experiment with something new and this is it.
> 
> My first ever A/B/O verse so be patient if you're interested in reading this. Yes, this will at some point be rather explicit pornographic story but that's my kink and my imagination and I'm writing this story solely to please my fantasies :p
> 
> With that in mind, hope you enjoy this ~

Crash landing was _not_ part of your plan. 

You received a distress signal shortly after coming out of hyperspace while you were en route to Onderon, and you wasted no time as you re-routed your ship to head to the last known location of the signal. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been such a bad idea to check the navigational computer first before you headed for the moon that appeared in your view but you had other pressing matters to worry about. The fact that the distress signal was coming from one of the rebel’s ships was one of them. And the fact that you no longer could trace the signal was another. Something was wrong, you could feel it in your bones, so you descended your ship into the murky atmosphere of the moon below, not prepared for the challenges the moon offered until the air cleared and you plunged deep within the jungles, the impact of which almost made you collide with the console of your ship.

Yes, crash landing was certainly _not_ what you were expecting. And to add to your worries, your own signal was jammed, no matter how many times you tried to restart the computers of your ship, hitting the console repeatedly until it flickered and died completely. 

You cursed. You were stranded on an unknown moon, with no way to signal for help, your ship damaged and tangled up in the thick foliage of the jungle. And to make matters worse it just started to rain, heavy splatters of rainfall beating down on the viewport of your ship, making it impossible to see what laid beyond in the wilderness of your surroundings. 

You had no choice but to try and at least inspect the ship and see if you could repair it. Which required you to get out into the mess outside, and you cringed, already feeling miserable as it is, that you would be soaked to the bones within seconds of leaving the dry space of your ship. You were just about to open the latch on the door when a thumping noise outside stopped you, followed by a growl and a hiss. You tensed. This sounded suspiciously like an animal, a _big_ one. Jungles meant many things but most of them had one thing in common: large predators, most likely dangerous and native to their surroundings. 

You immediately went back inside the cockpit to collect your belongings, stashing more of the firearm in your clothes, checking to make sure you had enough charge in your blaster. The last thing you wanted was to be stranded in this place unarmed. You could deal with no food and there seemed to be _plenty_ of water (you were almost positive that the rain was fresh water and the air inhabitable enough for any sentient being) and you had some ration bars left to last you a week. 

But the _most_ important thing were your pills, your heat suppressants, and you breathed a sigh of relief when you found them and pocketed them inside your jacket, making sure to count how many you had left. Enough to give you time to get out of here alive. It was already bad enough to be in this situation in the first place. It would have been worse all together if you were to suddenly go into heat, rendering you immobile and helpless for the whole week. Best not to think about that as you shuddered and then with the last glance to make sure you gathered everything that you needed, you opened the latch and pushed the door open, almost stumbling in your step down below when you realized the ship wasn’t even grounded but slightly elevated above, entangled in the vines.

You cursed once again, slipping in the rain as you carefully climbed down, holding onto vines until your feet hit the ground. You looked around yourself, squinting around to look for any danger. You hadn’t heard the noise again and you were fairly certain you were alone, which gave you time to look at the damage above. You didn’t like what you saw. One of the engines had blown up and the other needed some serious repairs before you could try and lift the ship up in the air. Forget about the hyperspace, you would be lucky to get out of this atmosphere in the condition your ship was in. 

You were just thinking about all the tools you needed when your comlink went off. It was picking up the distress signal once again. You couldn’t believe your luck. There was another rebel ship on this moon, and you hoped that it was in far better condition than yours. You didn’t like the idea of leaving the ship behind but you also didn’t like the prospect of staying here by yourself if there were other people here that needed your help. So you made up your mind and started treading through the jungle, pushing and struggling against the thick vines as you made your way, albeit too slow for your liking, towards the signal. Your hair and clothes kept getting pulled on the vines, and your boots were halfway covered with the mud, your feet getting stuck and pulled down in all the murky goo that was supposed to be a solid ground. The rain did not help you even one bit, if anything it rendered you almost blind as it kept hitting your face.

After what felt like hours, you finally managed to get to the clearing and you almost screamed with joy when you saw a gleaming surface of another ship up ahead. You could make out its shape, and it definitely looked like an older model of the ship the rebels liked to use on their missions, so there were no questions in your mind that you were safe. If you would have paid a little more attention you would have noticed all the signs that something was seriously wrong, but in your mind all you could imagine was the dry compartment of the ship and the warmth it offered to your chilly bones.

It was only when you were nearing the ship when you picked up the signs. The paint was almost stripped unrecognizable, thus creating that gleaming surface you saw in the distance. The doors and windows were torn apart, smashed and _clawed_ out, making you stop dead in your tracks. It looked like this ship had been here for _weeks_ . And there were no signs of any other rebels around you. You glanced down at the comlink strapped to your wrist and frowned. The distress signal kept blinking and it was _nearing_ you. 

You whirled around when you heard something. A snap of the branch, muffled by the heavy rain. You could hardly see what was beyond a few feet of you, your eyes sweeping past the thick foliage up ahead to try and make out what made the noise. You couldn’t suppress the shiver when you felt a chilling sensation as _someone_ or _something_ was watching you. You grabbed your blaster, waiting with held breath for something to happen. And something did. 

From your right side emerged a beast, tall, hairless with large claws and tail. Its face had huge fangs that protruded from its round head and its eyes were small, bead-like, glowing yellow and its sight set on you. You realized with a sinking feeling that the distress signal was coming from the beast itself, lodged somewhere deep within it, perhaps even in its stomach. You instinctively raised your blaster and without a warning shot a few blaster bolts, only to gape in shock as the beast deflected them with its scales. Only then did you realize that it had an armored hide, one that was immune to the blaster fire. You swore, watching the beast as you started to slowly back away from it, hoping to get inside the carcass of the ship until another noise behind you made you whirl your head to find another one of those beasts slowly gaining on you. 

And then you were surrounded as two more emerged from each side, four beasts slowly circling around you and trapping you within. You were their prey, and you realized with a sinking feeling that you were helpless against them if they were to attack you at once. You only had enough time to turn and take a step when they finally pounced, one of them almost slashing you with its claws, tearing at the fabric of your jacket as you toppled to the ground and rolled away in time for another one to sink its claws in the spot where you were just a moment ago. You shot a few more blaster shots, each of them efficiently deflected by the beasts, none of them fazed by it as they bared their fangs and growled. 

You didn’t even have time to get up, the one closer to you slapped you with its long tail which made you howl in pain and then you were pounded into the wet soil by its claws, your life mere seconds from being torn out of your chest, your eyes wide as you stared at its fangs mere inches from your face. You whimpered, shut your eyes and prepared for immense pain only for it to never come as suddenly the weight was lifted from your chest and the beast howled as though it was tossed aside by something else. 

You opened your eyes and wished you kept them closed because the sight that greeted you was even more horrifying than the last. Because off to the side was standing a tall figure in black with a red lit sword, the weapon slashing in the air with precision and deadliness, fighting off the beasts that had their attention on the newcomer. You watched, wide-eyed, as the beasts jumped around, trying to find the opening of the prey, their hides and bones resistant even to the heat that the weapon was emitting. You thought for a moment that there was no way to kill them off, but one by one, minutes of intense battle, the figure in black was able to overpower the beasts, levitating them in the air and plunging the saber in their chests, while crushing the other ones with the invisible force. It was all over before you could get up and by then the figure was already advancing on to you and you froze in fear, realizing who your savior was.

Darth _kriffing_ Vader was here, on this moon, mere feet away from you and you did the only thing you could think of in your sheer panic and fear. You raised your blaster, which you miraculously still had in your hand and then shot it at him, and almost laughed at your naive thought that you’d be able to hit him, when your blaster was torn out of your hands by that same invisible force, the blaster shots ricocheting off the invisible wall around him and then you were seized by that same grip, tight pressure encircling your throat and you gasped.

“ _Rebel scum_ ,” came the rich baritone voice of Vader as he stopped in front of you, his height towering over your small form and you couldn’t even respond back, your throat constricting more with each passing second as you stood there and choked. You could do nothing as he reached for your arm, tearing the comlink off your wrist and watched as he set the locator back to your ship. You whimpered, causing the mask to snap back to your face. 

“Do not think I saved you,” he spat and you wanted to tell him that you hardly believed that to be the case in the first place. “I merely needed _this_ before the maalraas destroyed it,” he was holding your comlink in his large gloved hand and you frowned, trying to understand what the “maalraas” was until it clicked to you that must have been the name of the beasts. But then your attention was snapped back to Vader as he lifted his other hand and reached for your face.

“What secrets does your mind possess?” you felt a weird sensation cloaking your senses, as though something cold was slithering inside your head. “What plans does your Rebellion have?” you tried to fight him but there was no use. You heard stories of his interrogation methods, and only stories, myths even. No one had ever survived an encounter with Darth Vader, let alone live to tell that tale. You were alone, on the treacherous moon filled with beasts, unarmed and helpless against someone who was feared widely across the galaxy. 

You would have cried out if you could, but your throat was burning and your head was throbbing as he used his powers to slither through your mind, looking for the needed information without any regard to your well-being. Tears were streaming down your face, mixed with the rainfall, as you helplessly stood in the clearing, counting down the minutes until he was done with you and either choked you to death or slashed you with his weapon. You briefly thought of your dead family, killed by the stormtroopers in the siege against your homeworld, or perhaps this was a memory that Vader was pulling from you which made you recount all the horrible things you’ve witnessed the Empire do. It wasn’t long until you thought of _other_ things, the taboo things that this world was against, your true nature that you were hiding ever since you first had your heat and then suddenly the pressure on your throat was gone and you could breathe, taking an agonizing breath in your aching lungs which burned, coughing and sputtering as you almost collapsed on the ground.

Except you didn’t, because Vader was holding you and you swirled your head to stare at him with fear in your eyes. “You’re an omega,” was not what you were expecting to hear from him but neither was him not killing you, at least not yet. You tried to twist away from him, but his grip was strong and the strength in you was failing. 

“And an unbonded one at that,” he continued and you flushed deep crimson, shame and embarrassment washing over you in waves and you couldn’t help but shout. 

“Get out of my head,” you spat.

“It’s a pity you’re a rebel,” he continued as though he didn’t hear you and this time his words had roused you up and you hissed, inadvertently baring your teeth at him.

“Well your _Empire_ had done quite a marvelous job at eliminating most of us,” you growled, only then realizing that you were leaning towards him so you tried to straighten yourself out by pushing away but Vader yanked you back against his chest, the action so unexpected that your nose almost hit his chest box.

“I was _against_ that idea,” he hissed back and you stared, unable to believe that Vader was admitting to something that could have been entirely a lie. 

“It doesn’t matter,” you spat back. “Don’t tell me you haven’t once killed an omega before.”

You could have imagined it but Vader faltered at that, his stance shifting as he brought his mask closer to your face, as though studying your features. “I haven’t,” he admitted and you couldn’t help but gape at him. This was becoming rather uncomfortable, your fear evaporating into something else entirely.

“Well—” you stumbled with your words. “I’m sure there are plenty of my kind out there—”

“There _aren’t_ ,” he swiftly interrupted you and once again, you could only stare at him, trying to understand why he hadn’t yet killed you. Was he an omega himself? That was unlikely, as both omegas and alphas were hunted down, killed by the Empire to stop the unnatural process of nature, as the Emperor called it himself. As the years went by, there were less and less of them in the world, and the rest had to muffle their presence by taking heat and scent suppressants just to survive. You were lucky in a sense that your family was prepared when you first went into your heat, immediately supplying you with the right medicine. 

But _this_ was different. _Vader_ was different. And you couldn’t quite place what was off about him or his reaction to learning that you were an unbonded omega. You could not detect even a trace of his scent, so you immediately crossed the notion that he was an alpha. You would have smelled it if he was one. Your instinct, no matter how much the pills tried to suppress it, was still there, buried deep within you. And your instinct would have picked up even a trace of an alpha scent. But you haven’t met even one in your years of growing up. 

“Did you kill them?” you swiftly changed the topic. “Did you kill the people on that ship?” you nodded your head towards the damaged ship in the back. 

“No,” was his stiff reply. “They met their deaths by more vicious beasts than me,” he didn’t need to elaborate more on that. You’ve witnessed what some of the beasts could do, almost overpowering Vader, one of the most powerful men in the galaxy. There was no chance for mere rebels against them.

“So you’re going to kill me?” your throat had gone dry despite the rain still beating down hard on both of you.

“No,” his reply had shocked you once again and only then did you notice his hand, the one that was holding your head, had traveled down below your jaw, his gloved fingers absentmindedly stroking the scent glands that were there. You jumped at the touch, instantly taking a step back.

“What are you doing?” you growled, looking at Vader with distrust and suspicion in your eyes. 

He dropped his hand, perhaps realizing what it was he was doing and then turned on his heels, signaling for you. “Come,” he was expecting you to follow but you stayed rooted to the spot. He stopped, turning his head to stare at you through the lenses of his mask. “Unless you prefer to spend the night in wilderness with these beasts, I suggest you come _willingly_.”

“Or _what_?” Where did this bravery come from?

“Or you _die_ ,” he simply replied, no menace in his voice. “This place is unforgiving and it’s certainly not for the weak.”

You bristled at that. “I’m _not_ weak.”

“Sure, _little one_ ,” was he _joking_ with you? But this was Vader. He _didn’t_ joke. 

“I’m not _little_ ,” you hissed. 

“All right then, _omega—_ ”

“I have a name,” you spat as you finally moved from your spot. “And don’t call me by that title ever again,” you didn’t know why but the way Vader said the word ‘omega’ had left an unpleasant tingle down your spine, as though he was tasting the word with his lips, leaving the ghost of his touch on your skin. You shivered, attributing it to the rain and walked the rest of the journey in silence, with Vader leading the way.


	2. A Drexl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, thank you all so much for your kind comments and your love for the previous chapter! I honestly wasn't expecting such a well received response :) With that in mind, I couldn't help but post another chapter so soon as a thank you (plus I just can't seem to stop writing this story haha). 
> 
> My only concern, is that I hope I'm not making Vader too OOC in this story. Writing him as an alpha is proving to be a challenge, considering that it clashes with his morals as a Sith and his instinct to want to protect his omega. Let me know what you all think. Enjoy ~

The rain stopped by the time you made your way back to your own ship. You watched, almost dumb-struck, as Vader _levitated_ your ship as though it was a feather, down on the ground, before proceeding inside the ship to assess the damage. It took you a moment to gather your senses, looking around yourself, at your muddy and soaked clothes and then back at the ship and by then Vader was already exiting the ship.

“What are you doing just _standing_ there?” his baritone voice startled you and you jumped; you had forgotten how deep his voice was when you spent several hours in complete silence, just listening to the repeated hiss of his respirator. 

“I—” you cleared your throat. “Is there something you want me to do?”

“Yes,” he was circling around the damaged engine, inspecting it. “Get inside and change.”

You were more startled by that response than you had been since meeting him. His simple requests sounded like harsh commands, like he was expecting you to follow them.

“I _am_ expecting you to follow them,” he replied, listening to your thoughts, and you bristled.

“Get out of my head,” you hissed at him.

He turned to look at you. “You had done irreparable damage to this ship,” he stated, which sounded like an accusation with his modulated voice. “Perhaps your _Rebellion_ should first teach you how to fly—”

“I _know_ how to fly,” you barely suppressed a growl. “I just wasn’t expecting— _this_ ,” you hoped he understood what you were trying to convey with your words as you flailed your arms around the jungle. 

“ _Clearly_ ,” was he making fun of you again? You clenched your teeth, trying to suppress your annoyance. 

“I don’t see _your_ ship anywhere,” you pointed out.

“It crashed,” he stiffly replied and you couldn’t help but feel smug about it.

“Oh, don’t tell me,” you drawled. “I suppose you didn’t _expect_ this,” maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to make fun of the Dark Lord when he swiftly turned around and stalked up to you, making you hastily take a few steps back from him. 

“This place interferes with any magnetic and electric charges,” Vader hissed as he trapped you against the tree with his large form. “Any experienced pilot is bound to crash on this forsaken place. Except _I_ didn’t total my ship like you and your rebel friends did to theirs.”

You were terrified of him but something in his words caught your attention. “How _did_ you end up here?”

You could feel his gaze behind the mask, glaring down at you. “Hunting down the rebels,” he snarled and you balked, pressing yourself further into the tree as much as it allowed to try and place some distance away from him.

He must have noticed your apparent discomfort and fear leaching off of you when he finally pulled away, stalking back to the ship. “Get inside and change,” he repeated, fully expecting you to follow his orders this time. 

You huffed. “It’s not like I have anything to change _into_.”

Your words caused him to pause. “You mean to tell me you had a whole kriffing ship to yourself and don’t even have a set of spare clothes?”

You suppressed an urge to roll your eyes. Vader sounded more and more like a scolding parent and it was starting to grate on your nerves. 

“I told you—I wasn’t expecting to be in this situation,” you replied through clenched teeth. “This was supposed to be a quick and easy mission.”

“No matter what the circumstances are, the first rule of any mission is to _always_ be prepared for the unexpected—” he started and you groaned.

“Will you just leave it alone?” you were fed up with him. “What is it to you what I wear and what I don’t? Last I checked you were about to kill me, now you are worried about my lack of spare wardrobe,” you were fully intending to just walk past him inside the ship but he grabbed a hold of your arm, swinging you around to face him, your heart hammering inside your chest that perhaps you had finally crossed the line with your snappy remarks and he _was_ going to kill you.

“I’m _not_ going to kill you,” he hissed, reading your fleeting thoughts, his mask near inches from your face. “But your stubbornness and lack of foresight certainly will.”

“I’m perfectly _fine_ ,” you hissed back. “I’ve been in far worse situations than being merely soaked.”

Vader’s mask made a noncommittal noise. “I see your alpha not only failed to bond you, but also failed to properly take care of his omega—”

“I don’t have an alpha,” you spat, yanking your arm away from his hold. “And I’ve never met one. And I don’t _need_ one,” your cheeks burned, this conversation turning into the subject that you would rather avoid at all costs. 

“ _Never_?” was it you or did Vader sound astonished? You made a noise in the back of your throat, rolled your eyes and stalked away from him towards the ship, and almost groaned when Vader followed you inside the cabin.

“What do you want?” you hissed.

“You’ve never mated with one before?” he was still stuck on this subject and you wished, for once, that instead he was interrogating you about the Rebellion’s plans than asking you the questions you wished to never have to answer, especially to Darth Vader himself. 

The look you had given him must have answered his own question, his vocoder making another noncommittal noise and then you two were awkwardly staring at one another for what seemed like an eternity to you until a loud screech outside had made you jump, followed by what sounded like a flap of the wings and the next moment Vader was in your vision, pushing you further inside the ship and away from the open doors.

“What—”

“ _Quiet_ ,” he hissed, his body pressing you against the solid wall, blocking your view from what was happening outside.

“Your respirator is making all the noise for both of us,” you hissed back, earning a glare from him that you could feel through the opaque lenses of his mask. 

But you stayed quiet, listening with held breath as something large, larger than the maalraas, was circling overhead above the ship, flapping its monstrous wings in the air and screeching with piercing calls that made you want to press your hands against your ears just to muffle the loudness of the beast’s screech. You didn’t even realize your anxiety, a feeling of distress settling over you that made you whimper, until Vader had brought his gloved hand below your jawline and started to rub on the scent glands at the junction of your neck, the rough pads of his leather gloves doing a trick of calming you down that you leaned into his touch without even fully realizing your own actions. It was only when the screeching stopped and the distant flapping of the wings signaled that the beast was flying away, that you finally snapped from your trance and jolted yourself out of Vader’s touch.

“Why do you keep doing that?” you couldn’t help but ask. 

“I thought it might help to calm you down,” he responded and you frowned, which Vader misinterpreted for all the wrong reasons. “Omega’s scent glands act as—”

“I _know_ ,” you practically screeched yourself, pushing your way away from Vader, looking anywhere but him. “I think I ought to know my own biology better than you do. Please stop doing that,” you finished lamely, your cheeks burning with embarrassment. 

“Why?”

_Why_ ? Did you really just hear him ask you that? You turned around to give him a _look_. “Because that makes me uncomfortable?”

“I clearly got the wrong impression of what makes you uncomfortable,” was his dead serious response and all you could do was gape at him, your thoughts jumbled together until you snapped yourself back together.

“What _was_ that?” you asked of the winged creature, swiftly changing the subject.

“A drexl,” he replied as though it was common knowledge. “We need to leave, _now_. I would rather not want to deal with it if it comes back.”

“Wait— why?”

“Drexls are immune to the influence of the Force,” Vader continued, as he started to gather some equipment around the ship. “Which would be the easiest way to kill it.”

You were stumped. “The Force?”

He paused, lifting his mask to meet your questioning gaze. “An energy field which surrounds all the living creatures and binds the galaxy together,” he replied almost automatically, as though that line was rehearsed countless times. “It’s what gives me my abilities,” he elaborated when you still didn’t respond. 

You thought you heard of something like that before— before the Empire. “You mean— like the Jedi?”

You were not expecting the snarl that came out of Vader’s mask, nor the chilled air around the cabin, as though Vader could control the air with the will of the Force. 

“I’m _not_ a Jedi,” he was in front of you within a second, his presence terrifying you enough to make you shudder and shut your eyes, anticipating some sort of backlash from him but it never came. All you heard was the steady rhythm of his respirator next to you and when you opened your eyes you saw his hand mere inches away from your neck, reaching for the spot with your scent glands before he stopped and snatched it away.

“I didn't mean to make you distressed, little one,” he admitted with a softer tone, and for once you didn’t want to correct him about not calling you “little” lest you made him more upset. “We need to move,” he straightened out and moved past you inside the cockpit. “Gather your belongings.”

“Go where?” you couldn’t help but ask. “Why can’t we stay here?”

“Because this place will soon be swarmed with more drexls,” Vader replied, dislodging some components on the front console of the ship. “The first one sent a call to others.”

“But the ship—”

“It’s not repairable,” Vader was back using his brusque tone. “I will salvage the needed parts to repair my own ship, enough to send a transmission to my fleet.”

You didn’t like his idea any more than you liked your current situation but you could hardly argue with him on that one. You certainly didn’t want to deal with any more beasts this place had to offer, and if Vader was concerned about these drexls, then you ought to be concerned as well, considering that Vader was one of the strongest men the galaxy had ever known.

So with reluctance on your part, you started packing your own bag, stashing the rest of the ration bars, some more charges and any personal belongings you brought with you, which wasn’t much, and by the time you were done Vader was already ushering you both outside, snatching the bag from you as he placed the parts of your ship he managed to take apart, and then briskly walked ahead of you, towards what you presumed was his own ship. 

The night had fully settled by then, and the darkness mixed with eerie noises had only made you step up your own steps, closely following Vader behind, glad for once that you had someone here with you, even if that someone was your sworn enemy. It took a laborious amount to cross through the jungle, Vader calmly and expertly leading the way, sometimes using the Force to levitate the branches and sometimes using his weapon to slash through the thick vines and you couldn’t help but comment.

“I’ve only ever seen that on the HoloNews,” you nodded towards the cylindrical object clipped to his belt, but his back was turned and he couldn’t see you but he clearly understood what you were referring to. “What is it called again?”

“A lightsaber,” was his stiff response. “And don’t even _think_ about mentioning the Jedi again,” he added, perhaps already picking up on your fleeting thoughts. 

“I wasn’t going to,” you mumbled under your breath and then, as though realizing something, you lifted your hand and tugged on his cape, instantly making him stop in his tracks. “Can I have my blaster back?”

He slowly turned around to glare at you. “ _No_.”

You growled. “I need it to defend myself.”

“You have me,” was his rapid response.

“Exactly,” you hissed. “Which is why I need it.”

“Such foolish tools do nothing against me,” he responded, resuming his pace. “You’d only hurt yourself in the process, little one.”

“I told you—” you started but then Vader stopped altogether and you almost ran head first into his back.

“We will stop here,” he announced, indicating towards what appeared to be some sort of cave, hidden by the bushes.

“What about your ship?”

“We are still ways away from it,” Vader was already heading towards the rocky structure. “And you need your rest.”

“I’m _fine—_ ”

“Don’t argue with me on this one, _omega_ ,” there it was, that shivering sensation going down your spine, your instinct taking over as you complied with his voice, not fully understanding why you were acting in such a way towards his commands. 

You followed him until you were in front of the cave as Vader was inspecting it for any dangers with his lit lightsaber, the red light igniting the space inside, which looked roomy enough to fit both of you in. When he was satisfied that the cave was safe, he motioned for you to sleep there while he went outside, tossing you a ration bar and a water jug.

“Eat, then take your outer clothes to dry,” he instructed. “We will resume our pace early in the morning.”

You looked at him, his back turned your way as he gazed out into the jungle, his dark silhouette barely visible in the night. “What about you? Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I do not require the nourishment to sustain me,” he responded, still turned away from you. “I will take a watch outside,” and before you could ask him any more questions he was gone from the entrance of the cave, the sound of his respirator the only indication that he was still nearby. 

As it was, you were starving when you finally bit into the ration bar, devouring it in big chunks and gulping it down with water. It wasn’t enough but you knew you had to pace the rest of the bars if you wanted to survive however long it took to be rescued, or taken as a prisoner, you solemnly thought, recalling what Vader told you of his plans to contact the Imperial fleet. 

You took the outer layers of your clothing, laying your jacket and your boots to dry, thankful that the temperature on the moon was warm enough that you didn’t require any blankets. And before you dozed off to sleep, you reached for the inside pocket of your jacket, searching for the bottle of pills you stashed there that contained your heat suppressants. You frowned when you found the pocket empty, fairly certain you placed it there before leaving the ship the first time. You reached for another pocket, but once again your search came back empty. By then you were fully awake, frantically searching your jacket, tearing at the pockets and searching for the pills.

_Nothing_ . They were _gone_ . _Missing_. 

You searched every inch of your body, even your boots and then frantically ran outside, digging through the contents of the bag.

“What are you doing?” Vader’s voice was close, hearing your commotion as he appeared in your view.

You didn’t answer him, still searching, your heart painfully seizing inside your chest when you finally realized that you did not have your pills. You were already shaking at that point, your distress so obvious that you didn’t notice Vader nearing you until he stopped your movements with his hands, holding you in his grip.

“What is it?” if you weren’t so preoccupied with your own panicked mind you would have noticed how concerned Vader sounded but your only focus was only on what was to come if you didn’t get your pills.

You _never_ missed your pills. Not once. Diligently taking them since your puberty to suppress your heats, to stop them from happening entirely.

If you missed even one— you shuddered— it could only mean one thing.

Your body would be going into well-overdue heat.


	3. Failed Plan

You managed to wring yourself free from Vader’s hold, running inside the cave to gather your belongings, hastily putting on your boots and your jacket, your body flushed enough that you didn’t shiver from cold when the wet clothes clung to your skin. You had far more pressing matters to worry about as you ran outside only to collide with Vader as he followed you inside.

“What are you doing?” he demanded but you quickly ducked around him to get to your supply bag, haphazardly emptying everything that Vader placed inside of it that once belonged inside your ship. “What do you think you are—”

“I need my blaster,” you expectedly held up your hand, waiting for him to give you back your own weapon.

“We’ve already had this discussion,” he growled. “There is no need for you to have one—”

“Give me back my blaster,” you snarled. “ _Now_.”

Any other time you would have balked at yourself for demanding Darth Vader to do something, especially in the tone with which you addressed him. You had inadvertently given him a command— which he did not take kindly to as the air around you started crackling with ominous pressure emitting from Vader. 

“You should know your place, _omega_ ,” he snarled back, barely containing his rage. 

This was a lost cause, you realized with a sinking feeling. Vader would never give you your weapon back. It seemed he was adamant of his claim that you were safe if you stayed with him, that he would protect you from any harm. You almost scoffed at that, running your options through your head. It was suicidal to go back to the clearing with the rebel’s ship— defenseless— to search for the pills you were sure you dropped in your struggle against the maalraas. But times like these— times when your life could get a lot more complicated in the matter of days if you didn’t find your pills— it outweighed any other choice as to what you had to do. You’d die if you went into a long-week heat, stranded on this moon full of beasts. You would be completely defenseless— not to mention extremely stimulated and aroused— that nothing else around you would matter to you as you coaxed yourself to your own-self orgasms just to get through the painful and long-overdue heat. Vader would only consider you a nuisance, a burden, and if he didn’t kill you then something else would when your scent would carry across to the preying beasts. You had no other choice but to go back, alone and without a weapon.

You were already marching away from the cave when Vader finally caught on as to what you were doing. “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded, swiftly gaining the distance between the two of you with his quick and large steps. When you failed to respond to him, only increasing your pace, he snarled and then caught you in his Force hold. “I asked you a question, omega.”

You couldn’t help the anguished whine that escaped you as you tried, unsuccessfully, to get out of the Force hold. “Let me go!” you screamed, when you finally exhausted yourself of trying to get yourself free.

“Answer my question,” Vader demanded. “Or I will be forced to search for it myself— and believe me, you wouldn’t like it,” you cringed, recalling how it felt for him to go through your mind the first time. 

“I need to go back,” you finally sobbed. 

“Go back?” he tilted his helmet, your request not making much sense to him. 

“To the clearing,” you cried. “I have to go back— _please_.”

You thought that for a moment you stunned him speechless with your answer. “ _Go back?_ ” he finally hissed. “Are you _insane_? That place is crawling with bomas and zakkegs—” you really didn’t want to know what any of those names meant— probably more of the dangerous predators this place possessed that would kill you in an instant. 

“I don’t care,” you gritted through your clenched teeth. “I _need_ to go back. I— I left something there, something _very_ important to me—”

“ _No_ ,” Vader’s tone was final. “You will stay here.”

“What does it matter to you?” you spat. “I can hardly imagine you care about a mere _rebel scum_ wandering the jungles by herself.”

Something unintelligible escaped Vader’s vocoder and before you had the chance to regain your movements when you no longer felt the restricting presence of the Force hold, he swiftly grabbed your by the arm and started tugging you back towards the cave.

“Let me go!” you fought him along the way, digging your heels into the ground, all to no avail. He was practically twice the size of you, and your strength was nothing compared to his own. You were making awful a lot of noise, enough to draw the attention of the predators lurking in the shadows.

“ _Quiet_ ,” Vader hissed, realizing the same thing. When you failed to heed to his command, he increased his pace, and you had no choice but to run after him just to keep up with his strides. Yet it still did not stop you from screaming at the top of your lungs. 

And then all of the sudden you were sprawled on the ground, your back hitting the solid surface which knocked the breath out of you, and then Vader was on top of you, his weight pressing you down as he pushed you flat against the soil, his body pressing into you, muffling your cries with the back of his large gloved hands. You were desperate enough that you tried to claw at him, but he only had to use the Force to hold you still, and you laid there— immobile and pinned by his body— tears streaming down your face until you heard it. A screeching sound high above you. A drexl. 

You whimpered, all the color draining from you as you laid still with a held breath, praying that the winged creature wouldn’t notice you. Vader’s words about the beast were still fresh in your mind. The creature was circling around you, its wings flapping in the air, continuing to screech as it searched for its prey. It only occurred to you seconds later that Vader’s black armor and his cape were the only thing hiding you in the dark from the creature’s plain sight. It took minutes— perhaps longer— until finally the beast gave up and flew away with what sounded like a disappointed screech. You were too afraid to move, laying rigidly under Vader until he was the first to finally shift above you.

“Your reckless actions almost cost us our lives,” Vader hissed, still pinning you with the Force and still keeping his hand across your mouth to keep you quiet. “You are _not_ going back, especially not during nighttime when they are the _most_ active.”

You glared at his mask with defiance but even you couldn’t argue anymore that he was right about one thing. Your chances of survival would be much higher if you were to leave during daylight. You had to buy yourself time, had to plan your escape while he wasn’t paying so much attention to you, and only then did you have the chance to leave. Now was not that time. 

“Good,” Vader sensed your resignation and then let go of you, leading you back to the cave. “You _will_ stay here. And don’t even _think_ about escaping.”

___

He was not letting you out of his sight even for a moment. As soon as the first rays of sun broke through the horizon, he woke you up and then proceeded with watching you eat your ration bar before he was satisfied enough to let you resume trekking back to his own ship. He made sure you were next to him this time, constantly at his arm’s reach in case you decided to run, even going as far as making sure you couldn’t reach for your supply bag until he was there to personally oversee what you were doing. It was overbearing. It was maddening. And you were quickly losing hope to find your way back to that clearing as the hours ticked by and your system was lacking the necessary components that controlled your hormones. 

When you finally reached his ship, more like his personal TIE fighter, it was already daytime. He was right— his ship wasn’t in the worst shape, but it also wasn’t in the shape to fly either, as you looked at the damage his crash caused to the propellers and ignition port. The ship also looked to be needing major maintenance, shiny paint stripped off in some parts and even showing some corrosion. It looked like it was there for a while, until it dawned on you.

“How long have you been here?” you asked.

“Weeks,” he replied and you paled. 

“ _Weeks_?” you echoed. “And the Empire is not worried enough to start a search?”

“They most likely are,” Vader was tinkering with some of the wires. “Except I can’t send the distress signal and they don’t have my exact coordinates the last time I’ve contacted them.”

“And how do you know that this time it’ll work?” you couldn’t help but feel worried.

“It will,” was his curt response and you fell silent, watching his work, your eyes roaming over the impressive mechanics of the Imperial TIE fighter. You’ve never seen one so close before and certainly not a modified one— Vader’s own prototype and apparently one of the fastest and deadliest ships in the hands of the Dark Lord. 

You bit your lip. If you didn’t leave now you wouldn’t make it back to your own ship until midnight— if not later. Vader still had your comlink so you couldn’t use it to locate your ship. You thought that you could find your way back by the trail of snapped branches and cut vines from Vader’s lightsaber. But then you weren’t positive that you wouldn’t get lost. Without your comlink you’d be blind. But it was worth trying than waiting for your fast impending doom. 

You cleared your throat, gaining Vader’s attention. “I need to use a restroom,” you told him, hoping he wouldn’t detect the lie you had come up with, nor become suspicious to want to read your thoughts. You were careful enough to _not_ think about your escape as much as possible. 

“Let me finish with the wiring,” he replied, as he turned his gaze from you.

“I really don’t need you to escort me to do that,” you scowled. “It would just be— _awkward_ ,” that was an understatement of the century. 

He paused what he was doing. “If you think you can escape me—”

“I won’t,” you quickly replied, hoping you didn’t sound too eager. “I just need to relieve myself, that’s all. Right there, around those trees, okay?”

He followed your line of sight with his own gaze. “I will feel it as soon as you try to leave my presence,” he warned. “And if you do— I won’t hesitate to use any means necessary to bring you back,” the threat was clear.

“Okay, duly noted,” he shot you a glare which you could feel even through the opaque lenses of his mask as you walked away from him, your heart hammering inside your chest. You were a quick runner, you could try and hide from him, and the fact that you were smaller and lighter than him was an advantage to you in this environment. You just had to have a head start. When you finally hid behind the trees, you paused, watching from a distance as Vader resumed his work on the ship.

_Just don’t think about it_ , you reminded yourself. _Act normal, and he won’t notice until it would be too late._

You started to slowly back away from your spot, keeping your eyes on Vader’s figure slowly getting smaller and smaller as you inched your way further into the jungle, retracing the steps and being extra careful not to make too much noise. When you were certain you were far away enough— and enough time had passed that you should be coming back to him, you turned and started sprinting full speed back to the cave, from which point you’d try to retrace your way back to your ship. 

You would have made it, at least you thought so, if you didn’t trip and fall, scraping your hands and knees against the sharp rocks littering the jungle’s floor, until you felt a dark presence enveloping your senses, pure rage directed towards you and then the next moment you were _lifted_ from the ground by the unseen force, your movements trapped as Vader emerged from the shadows, his arm outstretched as he was using the Force to hold you in place.

“I _warned_ you,” he growled, advancing on you until he was right in front of you. “You should have _listened_ the first time—”

“No, wait—” you cried, yelping when he snatched you from the air and tossed you over his shoulder, your feet dangling over his stomach as he started carrying you back towards his ship. This sort of humiliating display was enough to stun you for a moment, your cries hitched in your throat. 

“I was lenient enough with you,” you heard him start as he increased the pressure over your legs, holding you in place as your head dangled upside down over his back. “But yet you test my patience over and over again, _omega_.”

You should have tried to fight him, clawing at his back and his cape to let you free. Instead, his voice had stopped you, the warning in his tone making your insides clench from fear— not because he was Darth Vader but because of something else— some primal instinct that emerged from the depths of your soul.

“Since you won’t listen to me,” he continued when he finally reached his ship, dropping you on the ground in front of him. “You leave me no choice but to use the Force on your mind,” he was already lifting his hand towards your temple, ready to tamper with your memories and your mind to subdue you to him with a Force suggestion, until you cried out.

“Wait, _please—_ ” you stopped his hand with yours, your eyes wide open, pleading. “Please, _don’t_.”

“You should have thought of it _before_ you decided to escape from me,” he snarled.

“I _really_ need to get back there,” you stammered. “I only have a day, maybe two before—” your words died in your throat before you could admit to Vader as to why you needed to get back to the clearing.

“Before _what_?” he snapped with an impatient tone. 

“I _can’t—_ ” you cried. “You just have to believe me.”

Vader scoffed, his vocoder garbling the sound. “A little too _late_ for that, don’t you think?” you were feeling the first signs that he was entering your mind and in your panicked mode you finally stammered out the truth.

“My heat suppressants,” you bit your lip. “I lost them there— if I don’t get them back I’ll—” you felt yourself reddening with each spoken word, utter humiliation and embarrassment washing over you that you were telling Vader— of all people— about this. 

“You’ll _what_?” he was still pressing for answers and you stared at him with wide eyes. Was he really that dense not to know about omegas like he claimed he did? Or was he unaware about what the lack of pills would do to an omega that had been taking them ever since the presenting?

“I’ll—” you stammered, your whole body flushing. Of course Vader wouldn’t know anything about that. Your reluctance to answer him only seemed to anger him more as he growled.

“If you won’t answer me—”

“I’ll go into heat,” you cried. “I’ve never missed my pills— I don’t know what will happen once my heat comes— I haven’t had one since my very first time,” you were blabbering, shaking as you admitted your fears out loud. You wanted to look away but you couldn’t— instead you started crying. How _humiliating_. 

You were expecting Vader to get angry with you, to mock you, maybe sneer because you were a useless omega only getting in his way. Instead he crouched next to you, his fingers brushing your cheek, wiping away at the tear. “Why didn’t you tell me that when I first asked you?”

You looked away. “I panicked— and I didn’t think _you_ needed to know.”

The silence that followed was beyond uncomfortable and you fidgeted under the scrutinizing gaze coming from Vader. “We are ways away from that spot,” he finally answered. “And I won’t risk going there again.”

You turned your head. “You don’t need to— if you’ll just allow me to go there alone and retrieve them—”

“I won’t let you do that either,” he cut you off. “We were lucky we didn’t get attacked by more maalraas, but that exact place was swarming with them ever since the rebels crashed there. You’ll die if you go there alone.”

“Why do you care?” you spat. “I’ll die either way.”

If Vader was taken back by your outburst he didn’t show it. “You won’t die by staying with me.”

You scoffed and then laughed. “It takes a whole _week_ ,” you shook your head. “My scent will attract them— I don’t expect you to stay by my side— actually I would prefer if you don’t,” you looked away again, completely missing the way Vader’s body jerked when he heard your words. 

“If it takes a week, then so be it,” he finally replied and you would be lying if you said his words didn’t shock you. You whirled your head to stare at him like he had two heads. “But I won’t let you go anywhere near that place,” he continued. “There’s no guarantee that you’ll even find them— it was raining that night. They could be buried beneath all the mud.”

You couldn’t help but cry harder at that. Of course you knew in the back of your mind at the slim chance that you’d even find your pills. You could have dropped them on your way there, actually you could have lost them _anywhere_.

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” you finally whispered. “It’s not a pretty sight— in fact you’d want to kill me yourself before the week is over.”

“I won’t,” he sounded so sure of himself and you only shook your head, not believing his promise that he’d stay by your side. “Believe me, little one, if anything it will only make me want to stay close to you.”

You didn’t reply. Nor did you care to understand the meaning behind his words. You were already preparing your mind— and your body— for the worse. It’d been so long since your first presenting that you forgot what it felt like. Without the toys— without the comfort of your home— and without the alpha, it would be the worst week of your life and having to spend it in the presence of Darth Vader was the _last_ thing you wanted to do. 

He must have sensed your discomfort, your oozing worry clouding your mind because he wrapped his arms around you to help you get to your feet and led you inside the comfort of the small compartment of the TIE fighter.

“You will tell me when it’s near, won’t you?” his fingers were still lingering on your body long after you sat down in the chair.

You didn’t respond. You weren’t sure you were going to tell him at all. After all, it wouldn’t be hard to miss all the signs of you going into heat. And by then, it would only be a matter of time before you succumbed to your primal urge to be bred and mated and you only hoped that you were far enough away from him before he had to see you in that state.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hype is slowly building up :)  
> I'm sorry if it felt like a filler but I can't just jump them both in the middle of this mess before prepping them...  
> I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Love readings all your comments ;)


	4. Calm Before The Storm

When you opened your eyes you immediately realized two things out of the ordinary. One, that it was still too dark outside for it to be morning. And two, that the reason why you were up in the first place was because you weren’t feeling right— there was an undeniable burning sensation pooling in within you, an _itch_ that couldn’t be scratched. You jumped to your feet as soon as you placed that feeling. 

_Kriff_ , it was finally here. Three days had passed since you’d admitted to Vader about your lack of pills. Three long, completely _useless_ days sitting around and watching Vader tinker with his ship, while you were waging a war on the inside trying to come up with a plan when your heat finally arrived. And here it was, the beginning sign that you had to get ready. 

Your stomach dropped at the thought of telling Vader about it. He told you that he’d take care of you, but you hardly believed him let alone trusted him. What business— what _benefit_ would it bring to him to have to watch you go through a long-week heat? Maybe you could negotiate with him. But then again, negotiating with Vader was a lost cause if the last few days of knowing him had taught you anything about the man. 

You took a shuddering breath, trying to calm your nerves. There was no point trying to go back to sleep, you certainly didn’t think you could even if you tried. So you quietly exited the ship, hoping for solitude and peace while you waited for the sun to come up, careful in your steps so as to not wake Vader.

“Why are you up?” well, solitude and peace were out the window as Vader emerged from the shadows, his masked gaze boring into you.

You sighed. “I just couldn’t sleep,” you admitted.

He was watching you and for a brief moment you panicked, thinking that he knew the _real_ reason why you couldn’t sleep. 

“Stay close to the ship,” he finally answered and then turned his back to go around the back of the TIE fighter. You couldn’t help your curiosity as you followed him.

“Do you _ever_ sleep?”

You thought you might have heard a chuckle escaping him, but his vocoder deformed the sound into something unintelligible. “I do,” he replied and you couldn’t help but press for more answers.

“I never saw you rest even once,” you mused.

“I cannot sleep for long periods of time,” it appeared he was in the mood to appease you with your questions. “A few hours at most— my suit—” he abruptly stopped, as though he almost slipped by saying too much. He swiftly changed the subject. “I was able to repair the transmission. If the weather permits it I will send the distress signal out today,” the rain was incessant for the last few days, it finally slowed into a drizzle, the clouds looking less gloomy.

You almost smiled, feeling immense relief at hearing that you might be leaving this place once and for all. Until you remembered that it would be the Empire coming to retrieve you both and take you as their prisoner. Your eagerness and hope were instantly replaced with dread, and you involuntarily let out a small whimper, which was instantly picked up by Vader.

“What is it?” he was in front of you in an instant. 

“Nothing,” you quickly lied, averting your gaze. You tried to bury the thoughts of your heat deep within your mind. If Vader decided to read your thoughts, all he would sense were your worries about your uncertain future, being that you were an enemy to the Empire.

“Do not lie to me, omega,” you flinched, him calling you by that name sending a tingle down your spine.

“I just—” you bit your lip. “You said you weren’t going to kill me,” you lifted your eyes to him, questioning look in them directed at the Dark Lord.

“I did,” he confirmed.

“But— _why_ ?” you couldn’t understand _that_ part. You heard awful stories about him— how ruthless he was on the battlefield, merciless, heartless, _inhuman_. It did not add up with what you’ve witnessed in the span of the last few days. His uncharacteristic, although quite annoying, ways of ensuring you were safe— albeit that first time when he almost killed you until he learned that you were an omega— clashed against everything you knew about Darth Vader. He did not make any sense.

“You’re the first to ask why I _haven’t_ killed someone,” you weren’t even sure how to take his response so you stared at him with a bewildered look on your face. “Is it really that surprising to you?”

“Yes,” you blurted out without thinking. 

And once again something unintelligible came out of his vocoder. “I’m not as monstrous as you picture me to be,” you flushed. So he _did_ hear your thoughts about him. 

“Maybe not,” you finally answered after a short span of silence. “But what about the Empire? What’s going to happen to me?” you finally voiced your concern out loud that had been eating at your insides for days. 

“If it is your life you’re concerned about— you will be spared,” Vader replied, stunning you with his response. 

“Even though I’m a rebel?” you couldn’t help but ask. 

The crinking of a leather as he curled his hand into a fist told you that Vader was still less than pleased that you were associated with what he called a _scum_. “Rebel or not— your life is far too valuable to be killed off ,” you were about to open your mouth and ask what he meant by that but he raised his hand in a silencing gesture, his indication that he was done with this conversation. 

It only left you with more questions than answers, and if anything— it only added to more of your worries as you watched the first rays of light finally break through the sky.

___

By the mid afternoon you were burning, your whole body buzzing and you were _starving_ . Snacking on mere ration bars three times a day was not enough for you, if anything it only made you that much more hungrier to the point that your stomach was in knots, spasming from hungry aches. You thought you could bear it— you’ve been hungry before, sometimes spending days without food— until another urge overtook your senses. The urge to start your nest. You had completely forgotten about it— and now that your heat was nearing you had to find a spot. Spending a week cramped inside the TIE fighter was _not_ an option. 

Which left you with no choice but to finally tell Vader when you neared him working on the transmitter. The rain finally stopped, he was getting ready to dispatch a distress call. You felt foolish and guilty standing there, watching him, that for a moment you thought your needs could wait. You both were waiting for this moment to come when he could finally try and contact his fleet, you weren’t about to interrupt him with your needy request. But Vader already noticed you, sensing your apprehension and your desperation as he turned around.

“What is it?”

You swallowed, your nerves doing nothing to quell your distress. It was now or never. “I need—” you cleared your throat, looking anywhere but him. “I need to find a spot…” you trailed off.

“What?”

You flushed, feeling exposed under his scrutinizing gaze. “...To nest,” you whispered, your throat suddenly feeling dry. 

It took him a moment to realize what you meant. “You’re— you’re going into heat?” he sounded panicked, but you almost laughed at that notion. Darth Vader didn’t seem like the man to panic. 

You only nodded, still refusing to look at him, keeping your gaze down on the ground in front of you. You thought you heard him swear under his breath and then he was in front of you.

“What— what do you need?” this time he sounded unsure— apprehensive himself, which forced you to look up at his mask.

“Just… somewhere… secluded,” you bit your lip. “Preferably enclosed… I don’t want to draw any beasts with a noise when—” you trailed off, blushing profusely. You really hoped he understood what you were trying to say. Once the heat came you would most likely be loud, obscenely so. 

Vader finally snapped from his stupor. “Right— of course,” he moved towards the compartment of the ship, gathering the supplies. “We will leave at once then.”

You stared at him from your spot. “But what about the distress call— shouldn’t we send that first?”

“It can wait,” was his response as he locked the ship and came towards you. “How long until—”

“I’d think we have a few days— maybe three,” you honestly weren’t even sure yourself how fast your heat would come. This was only your second time, and you hardly had much experience with it. 

“We will head towards mountains,” he was already walking briskly towards the looming peaks in the distance. He paused when you didn’t follow. “What’s the matter?”

You felt like crying, your hormones already out of whack. “I’m sorry— I know this is the _worst_ timing— I don’t want to be a burden— “ you were blabbering, feeling absolutely miserable. 

“You’re not,” Vader was in front of you, tilting your chin up to meet his hidden gaze. “I told you I’d take care of you, little one,” his words instantly calmed you down and you unconsciously leaned in to his touch, feeling a different sort of spark going down your body. You hissed, sensing the first drops of slick already escaping your folds. You would have been mortified had it not been for Vader’s low growl, something feral stirring deep within him, sensing the beginning signs of your arousal. Perhaps you didn’t have as much time as you initially thought. 

“We should hurry,” he dropped your chin, with some reluctance on his part, and then led the way towards the mountains, keeping you right next to him at all times. 

The trek to the mountains seemed especially long to you, your muscles aching as you followed Vader’s hurried strides, and mixed with the tremors caused by lack of food, and extreme tiredness, you soon collapsed against the tree, startling Vader as he practically caught you in his arms.

“ _Omega_ ,” you definitely heard concern in his modulated voice this time. “Are you hurt?”

You shook your head. “I’m just— _really_ hungry. _Starving_ ,” your stomach made a noise, confirming your words.

He automatically reached for the ration bar but stopped when he saw the look on your face, or rather a scowl when your eyes landed on the damn thing. 

“Right— you need _real_ food,” he muttered. “I’ll get you something to eat once I find you a safe place. We are not that far off… Do you think you can make it?”

You were dizzy and you were tired, so the rational answer to his question would have been ‘no’. But since you were _irrational_ , you tried to pretend like you weren’t about to collapse again as you pushed yourself away from him, only to stumble in your step and end up in his arms again. 

“Don’t push yourself,” he growled as he scooped you up in his arms, but instead of carrying you like a burlap sack over his shoulder like he did the first time, he had pressed you against his chest, making sure his chest box wasn’t digging into your side as he carried you bridal style. 

The rhythmic sounds of his respirator and the steady rocking of your body as he continued walking while carrying your weight had lulled you to sleep, and before long you found yourself being stirred awake by light shaking. You let out a soft murmur, a displeased whine as you tried to submerge yourself back to the dream state. Vader, apparently, had other plans.

“Little one,” he was much more insistent this time as he shook you harder. “You need to eat. I brought you food.”

Upon the mention of food you perked up, opening your eyes to find yourself in an unfamiliar surrounding, darkness surrounding you. It was slightly damp, a little cool but it felt refreshing on your burning skin. When you finally stirred you found yourself laying on the solid ground with Vader crouching next to you. It didn’t initially register where you were— but the echoing sounds of his respirator finally allowed you to place your surroundings. You were in some sort of a cave, much bigger than the one you spent your first night on this moon. And judging by the darkness outside you figured you must have been asleep for quite some time, if the hungry noises of your stomach were any indication of how much you were starving since that morning. 

“Here,” he focused your attention back to him— or rather what he was holding in his hand. It was too hard to see in the dark but when you sniffed the air you couldn’t mistake the smell. It smelled delicious and it smelled like food. You growled and quickly sat up, snatching the food from Vader’s hands.

“It’s not much,” he continued. “And it probably will taste horrid— I will find you something more… _appealing_ once you’re settled,” you ignored his comment, sinking your teeth into the meat. It was tasteless, it smelled funny now that your nose was in it, and it had weird burn marks etched into the meat— but to you it tasted like the best meal you’ve ever had in your life. You moaned in satisfaction, quickly trying to devour the meat.

“Pace yourself, little one,” Vader chided, his fingers absentmindedly playing with your hair that he had no control of, which only sparked another need within you once you finished your food. And that _particular_ need was growing stronger and stronger with each passing hour. You shifted in your spot, slightly tilting your neck— a gesture that was primal and natural to omegas as they presented their scent glands, letting the nearby know that you were nearing your heat. You knew your pheromones and your scent were now more potent and fully exposed since you’ve stopped taking your suppressants. You couldn’t help yourself— it felt like you had no control over your body.

Neither did you know what it was doing to Vader as he silently watched you squirm in your seat, your scent washing over him, his cybernetics picking up on your smell and amplifying it— making it impossibly hard to focus. If he stayed with you much longer, his own need to rut and breed with you would cloud his judgment. He couldn’t afford to lose his focus, nor could he afford to lose all sanity. It had been far too long for him as it had been for you— staying here with you was _not_ an option.

He swiftly let go of you, raising himself to his full height, ready to leave. You couldn’t help the soft cry escaping your lips. “You’re leaving?” your voice sounded broken, _hurt_. Somehow the idea of being alone had made you upset and you wished more than ever that Vader would stay. You couldn’t even rationalize your own thoughts and feelings on the matter— your hormones were doing all the thinking for you. 

“I won’t be far, little one.” he replied. “I’ll make sure to check on you periodically— to bring you food and water and to guard the entrance to the caves,” he paused, unsure of himself. “I’ll let you get settled,” and then he left, leaving you all by yourself.

Of course you shouldn’t have been too surprised. This was Vader after all. He was already going out of his way to help you. Asking him to stay was a foolish thought, but yet you couldn’t help the whimper as it passed your lips, feeling small and helpless as you looked around yourself. This place would be your home, your nest for the next week or so. And you would spend your time here all alone and miserable, hoping that you wouldn’t be too loud in your cries for alpha while you tried to please yourself. You didn’t even have your toys— you never needed them, but now the thought wouldn’t leave you alone. How were you going to survive this?

Which made you realize the next obvious thing missing. Vader found you a safe place, but it was hardly what you would call a _nest_ . It lacked all the warmth, all the things that made you safe and comfortable in your own space. It lacked _material_ things, things with your scent. You whimpered in distress, looking down at the cold hard ground. This wouldn’t do you any good. You couldn’t stay here like this— you needed something. _Anything_. 

You were already moving out of the cave, your senses jumbled. You hoped there was something you could use— some leaves, maybe vines, anything to make it bearable. You didn’t think to bring a blanket from your own ship— you didn’t think you needed it. And now you wished more than ever to have it back but that was a far fetched wish you knew would never be fulfilled. You were days away from your ship. You had just come outside, searching in the darkness for anything that looked remotely comfortable when you heard Vader.

“Omega?” he sounded stiff, like he was having a hard time controlling himself. You looked up to see him standing at a distance away. “What is it— do you need anything else?”

You nodded, barely suppressing an urge to cry. “I just— do you think you can help me collect some leaves?”

“Leaves?” you would have laughed at his audible confusion if your situation wasn’t so pitiful.

“It could be anything,” you looked around yourself, finding what looked to be a large bush growing out of the mountain’s rocks. “Just as long as it looks remotely soft…” you trailed off, heading straight for the plant and inspecting it. Maybe if you laid your jacket over it…

“What do you need the leaves _for_?” Vader was still clueless and if anything, his apparent lack of knowledge or understanding only made you feel ten times worse, and this time you couldn’t suppress your tears as you stammered an apology.

“I’m sorry—” you averted your face away from him. “I can try to look for them myself—” you were already moving away from the cave but before you could make another step Vader was in front of you, blocking your path with his body.

“ _Omega_ ,” you suppressed the shiver going down your spine at the tone of his voice. “I can feel your distress. Tell me what’s wrong.”

When you failed to respond to him, still keeping your face averted from his searching gaze, he raised your chin with his fingers to find you crying. If only you knew what the sight of your teary face was doing to him. He suppressed an urge to growl, his own instincts kicking in to want to protect you.

“Tell me what’s wrong, little one,” his fingers had already reached your scent glands at your neck line, rubbing at the spot with his padded gloves. You shivered, your body instantly responding to the touch as you felt more slick gathering at your folds, and this time you outright moaned, your body craving the touch as you stared at Vader with wide eyes— your gaze filled with want and desire. Vader stilled his movements, and if his respirator wasn’t automatic he would have stilled his breath too, his whole body becoming rigid.

“I need—” you swallowed. You needed a lot of things, mainly an alpha with a large thick— you shook your head, trying to clear your thoughts. Right now you needed to focus, to get your point across while you were barely suppressing an urge to beg Vader to fuck you— because you were clearly thinking and wondering if that was even possible. “I need— to build a nest,” your voice was barely above whisper.

It took Vader a moment, but when it finally clicked he instantly withdrew from you and cursed. He was feeling less and less like a Sith Lord, and more and more like a young child— a timid boy from Tatooine, one he hadn’t felt like in _years_ — and it was all because of you. He had forgotten all about the omega’s heat, what he was supposed to do, because he was trying to suppress his instincts and his emotions behind a steel facade of Darth Vader. It was proving to be too difficult to maintain. 

He cursed again, feeling like he had failed to do the one thing his nature dictated him to be. To protect his omega— but you weren’t _his_. 

“I didn’t think of that, little one,” he finally admitted. 

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” you replied, casting your gaze downwards. 

“No,” he argued. “I should have thought of it— I didn’t— I _forgot_.”

You shook your head, dismissing his strange admission. “Please— I just need to gather some things—”

“You’d expect me to let you sleep on some vines and twigs?” he didn’t mean to sound so harsh when you flinched from his tone of voice. 

You misunderstood his outburst as more tears trailed down your cheeks. “I don’t have to— I can manage on the ground— I’m sorry I bothered you with it—” you were already moving back towards the cave but Vader stopped you.

“I didn’t mean it like _that_ ,” he despised more than anything to see you cry, even if he would never admit it out loud. “You shouldn’t have to be uncomfortable for my lack of foresight.”

You were about to ask him what he meant by that when he abruptly reached for his own neck encased in a guard— and to your utter surprise you watched as he unclipped his cape attached to the chain, draping the surprisingly warm and soft material over you, practically burying you under it. 

“This is the only thing I can give you at the moment,” he spoke. “I can try to make my way back to the TIE fighter to see if there’s anything in the emergency box— but that would require me to leave your presence all together and I—”

“It’s _perfect_ ,” you smiled, interrupting his tirade as you nuzzled your cheek against the material. It smelled like leather and earth— two things that you found made up Vader’s own unique scent, even if it wasn’t his true scent since you couldn’t smell him at all. “Thank you,” you looked up at him with a joyful expression on your face, your tears drying out and your misery all but forgotten. You couldn’t even imagine the look on Vader’s face behind the mask, his eyes hungrily roaming over your features. 

He simply nodded his head, words stuck in his throat as he watched you make your way back to the cave, stopping for a moment to glance back at him and then disappearing from his view completely. 

It took you some time to makeshift a small but comfortable enough bed out of Vader’s cape, the material so thick and so large that you managed to fit inside of it completely while you curved yourself into a small ball, finally allowing yourself to rest in your nest. You’d spend another day sleeping— gathering your strength, before you went into the full heat mode. But right now you just wanted to enjoy the quiet moment, the calm before the storm, breathing in Vader’s scent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vader being all confused and completely out of his element was so fun to write :) And then the fact that he was going out of his way to make sure his omega was comfortable *sigh* what I wouldn't give to be in the reader's position. 
> 
> I felt like it was important enough to mention her pre-heat moment, that Vader was already fighting with his instincts and how the reader is losing all the battle with herself now that her hormones are out of whack. I think it's finally time for a show-down... next chapter :p


	5. Training

If you thought pre-heat was bad enough, when the heat finally hit you you thought you were going to lose your mind. Everything hurt— it was an ache that was growing stronger and stronger, throbbing in between your thighs until you could do nothing but scream in desperation. You were still conscious enough to leave your clothes on— you knew that Vader was nearby and that he would be coming to periodically check on you— but that didn’t stop you from wanting to rip every once of the material off and start playing with yourself, if only to ease the pain. But you couldn’t. You couldn’t afford to be seen in such a state. So you wailed, and you screamed, and you cried, tossing and turning in your nest, feeling more miserable and desperate by the hour. 

You couldn’t register how loud you were— and you certainly didn’t care. But that didn’t mean that others around you couldn’t hear your cries. Vader had chosen this spot specifically for that reason. It was high enough off the ground— giving him enough time to spot any of the creatures if they decided to climb up on the rocky mountain. He also had a perfect visage of the skies and combined with the night vision of his HUD on the lenses of his mask provided him with plenty of data in the environment to warn him if any of the drexls decided to investigate the noise. He was on alert for hours— long before you started your heat. He had already made sure to check everything, ensure that the hiding spot was safe, and once you started wailing he could do nothing to drown out the noise.

He was fairly certain he had a steeled check on his own resolve when he offered to watch over you. He thought the suit could help drown out his own primal need rising deep within him, echoing your own desperate cries with his own low growls and hisses. He thought  _ wrong _ . If anything, the suit only amplified his need, his senses highly attuned to your cries and when your scent hit him— that fertile, rich scent of an unbonded omega so ready to be mated— he felt his own desire stirring in the form of a rather painful pressure building up beneath his codpiece.

He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this way. Certainly long before he was put in the suit. He didn’t even think— couldn’t possibly entertain the idea that he would ever have the urge to rut again. But there was no denying that his body was more than capable, his stiff cock twitching at every small whimper and noise you were making. He forced himself to wait, rooted to the spot near the cave’s opening, trying to cloak his presence in the Force and meditate, just to help drown you out of his mind. It proved to be impossible when you called out for him, your mind barely on the brink of losing all sanity altogether. And he snapped, his instinct to be near his omega— he kept thinking of you as  _ his— _ overtaking his rational thinking that he should stay away. 

He almost stumbled in his step when he entered the cave, his throat suddenly feeling dry. “Omega?” he called out, easily finding you in the darkness curled up in a ball, nestled in your made-up bed out of his cloak. The sight of it made him growl in approval until your thickened scent hit him again and his body lurched, coming up closer to you like he was pulled by the invisible strings. “Do you— do you need anything?”

You raised your head, finding him standing over you. You had almost forgotten you called out to him. Why did you do it? Another throbbing sensation rattled you and you cried out, your earlier question all but forgotten. You didn’t even notice Vader dropping to the ground next to you until you felt his gloved hands— large and steady— settling on top of you. The contact made you jolt and you moaned.

“ _ Please _ ,” you weren’t even cognitive enough to know what you were pleading  _ for _ . Just that his hands felt nice and you wanted them someplace else, much lower and between your thighs—

“ _ Omega _ ,” Vader’s voice slithered through your consciousness. “Tell me what you need.”

Your eyes lifted up to his mask, the sharp angles and the smooth surface of the metal catching the blinking lights of his chest box. You couldn’t properly see him in darkness but you knew he could— and he was gazing down at you, waiting for your response.

“I— I need— I want—” you stammered, shaking your head like you were trying to clear up the haze. “ _ Please— _ I just need—” you couldn’t finish that thought. You couldn’t bring yourself to say what you were thinking. What you truly desired. Your body was protesting and you shifted to your backside, spreading your legs open to relieve some of the pain. Your pants were already wet through, your slick dripping out of your folds, making your thighs sticky under the tight clothing. You wanted to rip them open— wanted Vader’s hands on you.

“Little one,” Vader growled, the tone of his voice taking a rougher edge. Perhaps he had caught on to your stray thoughts, or perhaps he was just enthralled by the sight of you so willingly spreading your legs, the smell of your arousal hitting him like a ton of bricks. “You need to use your words— I can’t stay here much longer.”

“ _ No _ !” you didn’t mean to yell it out, nor did you mean to grab a hold of his hand to keep him there, but the thought of him leaving you again made you panic— made you want to cry. “Please, don’t go,” you choked on your words. “ _ Stay _ .”

“I—  _ can’t _ ,” he wheezed. “You don’t know what the sight of you— the smell of you is doing to me— if I stay here much longer I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself—” he trailed off.

“I don’t care,” you surprised even yourself at the viciousness in your voice. “I need— I need  _ you _ ,” you finally admitted it out loud, staring up at his mask. 

He stared back at you, his body rigid. “You don’t know what you’re saying, little one,” he finally started. “These are your hormones speaking— you don’t really want me here—”

“That’s not true,” you argued as you managed to sit yourself up just so you could properly look at Vader’s mask. 

“It  _ is _ ,” he argued back. “You didn’t want me anywhere near you days ago.”

You couldn’t help yourself when you started crying. “I c-can’t help it,” you wailed, startling Vader enough that he reached for you again, this time swiping at your tears with his thumb. 

“Little one—  _ don’t _ ,” his alpha instincts were screaming at him to take your pain away. He couldn’t stand seeing you like this. Which is why when you closed the distance between the two of you and buried your face in his chest— right above his chest box— he didn’t pull away nor did he push you away from him. Instead he brought his arms around you, closing you in his embrace as he held you there. His body shook, his overwhelming need to breed practically pressing against you in the form of a rather large bulge hidden by his codpiece, and he was hanging by the last strand of his own consciousness, trying to call on the Force to help him. 

“I don’t—” he gritted his teeth. “I don’t want to take advantage of you, little one.”

You shifted in his arms, his words confusing you. “You won’t,” you were trying to sound reassuring, instead it sounded desperate as you clutched to him. “You can—” you swallowed the lump in your throat. “There are ways you can help an omega… just until I’m able to ride the wave out myself—”

“You  _ won’t _ ,” Vader hissed. “You  _ know _ that’s not how it works, little one.”

You bristled at that. “How would  _ you _ know?”

It was a lengthening pause which told you that something was out of place when Vader hesitated to answer you. 

“Vader?” you started, lifting your head just as he answered you.

“I have been… dishonest with you,” his arms tightened a fraction around you. You frowned, looking up at what you hoped to be his eyes while you felt his own heated gaze on you. “And you… you’ve been wrong about one thing,” he once again trailed off, hating that for once he couldn’t immediately say what was on his mind. He despised people that liked to equivocate themselves to conceal the truth, and now he was one of those people, the truth hanging on the tip of his tongue, mocking him. 

“I don’t understand—”

“You’ve met an alpha,” he interrupted you with an impatient tone.

“I  _ haven’t _ ,” you argued. 

“Yes, you  _ have _ ,” he hissed back.

“Don’t you think I would have known if I met one,” you started, your irritation taking your mind off the pain for a brief moment. “I would have at least  _ smelled _ one—”

“Because  _ my _ scent is suppressed,” Vader replied, making you instantly freeze. “This suit is designed for that— something the Emperor had foreseen before I was confined in it— but that doesn’t stop me from— I didn’t think I’d ever go into rut until I met you—” you were only half listening to him, your eyes wide.

“You’re— you’re—” you stammered.

“An alpha,” he confirmed, the tone of his voice taking a hint of regret. “You see why, little one, I  _ can’t _ stay here with you— I don’t want to cause you more pain—”

“ _ Alpha… _ ” it was more like a whisper but it rolled off your tongue like a melody, savoring the word like it was honey. Somehow the thought that Vader was an alpha wasn’t surprising to you— it should have been but now that everything clicked in place you couldn’t ignore the signs as to why he went out of his way to protect you— why he didn’t kill you when he first met you. It was ingrained in his nature  _ not _ to harm an omega. It all made sense now. And somehow— even though you should have been angry with him for hiding that important part of information from you— you couldn’t help the soft whine that escaped your lips as you pressed your body closer to his. 

“Alpha,” you repeated again, the word sending heat down between your thighs, only making you more slicked. 

“ _ Omega _ ,” he replied, his voice sounding rough to his own ears. “I can’t stay here—”

You cried out, unconsciously rubbing your body against his, your eyes filled with desire as you stared up at Vader. “ _ Please _ , alpha— I  _ need _ you— please—”

Vader groaned, stopping your movements with the Force. “You don’t know what you’re saying—”

“I  _ do _ ,” you cried out, desperate to feel his hands on you. “Please—  _ please— _ alpha, I need you— please mate with me,  _ please _ ,” your mind was far too gone to care how desperate you sounded at that moment. All that mattered to you was there was an alpha next to you and that you were in heat. Nothing else mattered.

“Little one,” it took every ounce of his control not to rip off his codpiece and plunge his cock deep within your folds. “If I do this… I wouldn’t be able to stop myself—”

“ _ Yes _ ,” you hissed, your body throbbing in anticipation. “I don’t care— ravage me— take me—  _ fuck _ me— I’m all  _ yours _ , alpha.”

Your words finally snapped the last thread of Vader’s control, his own arousal entangling him in a feral need to  _ fuck _ you, to make you  _ his— _ he growled and then your clothes were being ripped from your body, the fabric tearing under his haphazard movements until you were bare in front of him, your slick dripping down your thighs all for his view and he couldn’t help but hiss.

“So  _ wet _ ,” he murmured, his gloved hands roaming over your body, and all you could do was whimper, your own movements still restricted by the Force hold on you that he hadn’t let go of. “So kriffing  _ perfect— _ ” you felt a ghost of a touch against your wet folds and you screamed, trying to buck your hips but to no avail. You felt it again— more prominent this time— and your eyes widened in shock, your mouth propped open when you realized what it was. Vader was touching you with the Force.

“Alpha,” you choked on the word, your whole body strained and heated, electrified with each of the phantom touch of his fingers teasing your entrance. “Please— inside of me—” your eyes were pleading with him but he disregarded your pleas while he continued to tease you with his agonizingly slow strokes of the ghost fingers. It was  _ intoxicating _ . It was  _ too much _ . It was  _ not enough. _

“So  _ impatient _ ,” he teased and you wanted to scream at him, only to feel his phantom fingers sliding past your folds, his real hands resting on your chest as he cupped your breasts and squeezed them. You rolled your eyes at the back of your head, forgetting about everything except the feel of his hands on different parts of your body. He pinched your nipples, his voice bringing you back to reality. “Eyes on  _ me _ , little omega,” he growled out his order and you complied, your instinct to obey your alpha fully kicking in as you trained your eyes on his mask.

“Good,” he was using the Force to earnestly pump you at this point and you couldn’t help but scream and moan his name, having little care if any of the beasts heard your high-pitched screams of pleasure. You knew Vader would sense them— kill them if needed to be with just the Force— the same one he was using on you to drag out obscene sounds from both your mouth and your slicked folds, your arousal dripping down in a thick puddle between your legs. 

“So  _ loud _ ,” Vader hissed, just as the phantom finger stroked your clit and you almost lost it right there and then, your whole body shaking and your core clenching in anticipation for a pressure fastly building up and ready to rupture at any given moment. “You’re gonna have to learn to be  _ quiet _ , little one,” Vader grunted. “Otherwise I’d be forced to silence you with  _ other _ methods.”

Suddenly your mind was filled with vivid images, not of your own imagination but someone else’s, until you realized that Vader must have projected those images inside your mind using the Force. You gasped, then shuddered, and then let out a throaty drawn out moan, envisioning your mouth being stuffed full of Vader’s thick cock.

“I  _ can’t _ ,” you gasped, barely able to keep your eyes open. “I-I’m going to—  _ ah— _ I’m going to—” you couldn’t even  _ think _ , let alone talk. 

“Going to cum?” Vader finished for you, just as he replaced the Force touch with his own hand, his fingers resuming the fast pace of ravaging your insides with quick strokes of his gloved digits, making you howl and clench yourself hard around his hand. “Then cum, little one.  _ Cum for me. _ ”

And so you did, cumming all over his hand, your whole body spasming under his touch. You couldn’t help but close your eyes, savoring the intense pleasure washing over your body while you rode out your orgasm, Vader’s touch never leaving your body until he coaxed the last ounce of your orgasm out of your system. It was only when you finally managed to catch your breath when you heard Vader speaking to you and so you opened your eyes to meet the opaque lenses of his mask.

“I told you to keep your eyes on me,” he growled and you whimpered when he withdrew both of his hands from your body, making you whine in protest. “It seems,” he started just as he reached for his codpiece, your eyes hungrily following each of his movements. “That you require some obedience training,  _ little omega _ .”

You couldn’t suppress a shiver going down your spine. You never thought being dominated by such strong— possessive alpha was going to bring you so much pleasure. “Yes, alpha,” you whined. “Please— I’ll be good— I promise, alpha—  _ please _ .”

He seemed to be unamused by your comment, his fingers stilling above the latch of his codpiece. You stopped pleading too, watching with stilled breath as he focused you with his glare through the lenses of the mask.

“I don’t think you realize what I am, little one,” his voice took a sudden deep tone and you shuddered, feeling immediate excitement washing over you. It seemed that Vader’s last vestige of his own lucidity had finally slipped away— replaced by the primal and feral urge to rut and to breed as he slipped into a full alpha-mode. 

“I suppose… it’s not too late for you, my little omega,” he unlatched his codpiece, dropping the removable part of his suit on the ground next to him, the sound deafening in your own ears as you caught the sight of his large and rather thick cock springing free from the slit in his leather suit, making you freeze as you took in his length. How was he going to  _ fit _ ?

“Because your training has just begun.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that ask about longer chapters... I try to keep them average about 6 pages long... just as to not make some long and some short. This chapter seemed to be a good cut off point at the end to continue in the next chapter... sorry ^^'
> 
> With that in mind... please tell me what you like and don't like about this chapter and this version of Vader... because I feel like something is... off? Idk... I was having a little of a hard time writing this one for some reason even though everything I wanted in this chapter did happen. Anyways, I love reading your comments. Thanks for your love ~


	6. Missing Key In The Puzzle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh la la ~  
> This chapter is filthy :p but just the way I like it. Mmm~  
> I hope you enjoy it too!

You hadn’t had a time to process his words when he flipped you over, positioning you away from him and on all fours, your body still trembling from an aftershock of your orgasm. He roughly grabbed your hair, pulling your head backwards in his direction and you cried out in pain— until you felt him press himself against you, the head of his cock rubbing circles against your slicked entrance— teasing.

“ _ Alpha _ ,” your voice sounded broken in your own ears, your need overwhelming every other sense within you. You tried to buck your hips but once again, your movements were seized by the invisible hold, your body stilled by the Force. “Please— oh  _ please _ , alpha,” you were crying, practically hysterical with the need of him inside of you. You were  _ burning _ . 

“ _ Quiet _ ,” Vader hissed behind you, tightening his hold on your hair to keep you still. “I showed you what would happen if you refused to be silent.”

Your pussy only throbbed with the recent images projected to your mind of his large cock inside your mouth and you moaned. Vader’s warning failed to make you listen— if anything you  _ wanted _ him to punish you. You wanted him to gag you with his cock— to make you choke on his girth while he stuffed himself all the way in, saliva dripping down your chin while you tried to take him whole.

“Filthy little thing,” Vader groaned, your loud thoughts slithering inside his mind. “You want my cock that bad? You want me to ruin you from both ends?”

You only moaned louder, your pussy clenching the air with anticipation. You were suddenly smacked from behind, Vader’s gloved hand leaving a red mark on your ass, making you hiss from the sting of the slap.

“Use your words, omega,” he growled. “Had I made you that incompetent that you can’t even speak? After just  _ one _ orgasm?”

You would have lurched your body if you could when Vader resumed the ghost of a touch of his fingers on your pussy, playing with your swollen clit. You cried— louder this time— your slick dripping down your thighs.

“ _ Please _ ,” you choked on your words— still trembling— feeling another onset of orgasm fastly approaching right behind the first one. You had a feeling you’d go through a lot of those tonight. You didn’t care. “Please, alpha, please—”

“Your  _ words _ ,” Vader reminded you, increasing the pressure on your clit. 

You couldn’t  _ think _ , let alone talk. “I need—” your voice was strained, and you could barely speak up, your throat suddenly feeling dry. “I  _ need _ you,” you moaned, your eyes rolling in the back of your head under the insistent pressure of his ghost fingers. 

“You need  _ me _ ?” he growled, stopping his movements as he pressed his cock against your opening, reminding you that he was there— a large bulk of him waiting to be sheathed inside your tight virgin hole. “Or my  _ cock _ ?”

“ _ Both _ ,” you screamed. “I need you— oh maker, just  _ please— _ alpha, please— inside of me. I need you  _ inside _ of me. I need your cock. Please just  _ fuck _ me, please—”

You felt him stiffen beside you, your words making him painfully throb while he rubbed himself against your opening. Your slick was enough to lubricate his cock, dripping down his shaft while he rubbed himself against you. 

“Such a desperate little omega,” Vader growled as he roughly pushed you down on the makeshift nest, pressing your face into his cape to muffle your cries while he held you there. “You should see yourself— your pussy is  _ soaked _ and I barely even touched you.”

“Alpha—” you managed to twist your head to the side, catching a large gulp of air and then you felt it— the first intrusion of his massive cock inside your virgin pussy.

“ _ Kriff _ ,” Vader hissed. “So fucking  _ tight— _ ” you felt your walls being stretched with each inch of himself burying deeper and deeper between your folds, making you feel impossibly full— but so fucking good that you mewled with delight— and before you knew it— you were already cumming again, gushing yourself over his cock and down your legs while you spasmed around him.

“F-Fuck,” you had caught him off guard, your pussy pulling him in until he was sheathed all the way in to the base, your walls squeezing around him while you cummed. “Did you just— fuck, little one, you feel so  _ good _ —” he sounded like he was out of breath, his vocoder making a choking noise.

You hissed, your mouth propped open in silent scream while you rode out the last of your release— until you realized just how much it felt just  _ right _ to have an alpha’s cock lodged deep within you. It was a sensation you’ve never experienced before— being so full of him that it made you ache— your walls stretched beyond their limit of a virgin pussy— your heat taking the pain away, but you knew that the soreness would be there for days to come. You couldn’t speak out the words— so you projected it to him with your thoughts, knowing that Vader would hear you. And he did.

“You liked it that much?” he groaned. “That you had to cum on my cock?”

You only moaned in response, your mind still elsewhere while you were slowly adjusting to his size.

“You took me so well, little one,” Vader praised, his gaze down on the junction between your bodies. “Almost like you were meant for me—” he shifted inside of you, trying out the angle of his position, which caused you to let out a hoarse scream of pleasure. Your mouth was instantly muffled by one of his large hands clamping down over your mouth while Vader leaned over you, sliding in deeper with the new position of him laying on top of you, supporting your body with the Force.

“I told you to be quiet,” he hissed, the sharp edges of his mask digging into your shoulder when he dropped his head in the crook of your neck. The sensation of cold metal mixed with warm breaths coming from the grill of the mask made you shiver. “You’re going to attract  _ them— _ unless you  _ want _ to be seen fucked over with your hole fully stuffed with my cock— leaking with my cum.”

You moaned louder, shutting your eyes while you clenched harder around him. Vader chuckled, the noise reverberating through your body. “You’d like that, won’t you? You dirty little thing.”

You managed to speak through his hand over your mouth, finally finding your voice. “Y-yes… I’d like that,” you tried to work your muscles around him, trying to urge him to start moving, while your body was impatiently ready to be washed over by another orgasm. It was almost pitiful— how much you were cumming in the span of the last few minutes. And Vader hadn’t even  _ started _ fucking you. 

Vader groaned again, listening to your loud thoughts. “You want to cum  _ again _ , little one?”

“Maker—  _ yes _ ,” you gasped and then whined when he still refused to move. “Alpha,  _ please— _ I  _ need _ to cum. I-I’m going to lose my mind— please fuck me, please—  _ ah _ ,” you almost choked when Vader slightly pulled himself out, watching with some morbid fascination as the walls of your pussy parted around his girth with each of his slight movements. It was  _ slippery— _ incredibly so, your slick dripping non-stop around him. 

“You’re so fucking  _ wet _ ,” he pulled himself out again, this time almost all the way out, your slick covering the whole length of his cock— almost making it look shiny behind his red visor. “Is this all for me, little one?”

“ _ Yes _ ,” you moaned, reveling in the way it felt to have Vader’s cock sliding in and out inside of you. “It’s all for you— all for you alpha.”

Vader was still patiently moving with the same pace— deliberately slow— making you hiss and sputter as you tried to meet his thrusts with your hips— all to no avail. He still had a tight hold on you with the Force.

“Alpha,” you screamed, this time with absolute desperation in your voice, practically sobbing. “I can’t take this— just fuck me already, please. I’m so ready— I’m all yours— I-I— “ you were blabbering, your words not making much sense to you.

“ _ Patience _ , little one,” Vader’s voice grumbled in your ear as he stilled himself once more, making you scream with absolute anguish. “You’re gonna have to learn to be patient. This is your punishment for not following my orders— your  _ training _ .”

You wailed. “I’m sorry, alpha— I promise I’ll be good— I’ll be so good— just  _ please _ ,” your voice broke on the last note. 

“Hm,” Vader shifted above you once more and then his hand— his  _ real _ hand— slid down between your bodies and he touched you— barely a flick of his gloved finger against your clit— and you were howling as another orgasm ripped through your body, making you spasm and twist in Vader’s hold. 

You didn’t even register that he started moving until you finally regained your bearings and by then he was thrusting himself with all the power he possessed as he held your hips in his tight grip to keep you in place. He no longer needed the Force for that— there was no way you were moving anywhere after he earnestly started fucking you. Because maker— it felt  _ good _ . So good that you saw white stars behind your eyes, your whole body being ravaged by his rough thrusts, skin on leather and wet sounds reverberating through the cave’s walls, making it all sound so obscene you would have collapsed from absolute mortification if you were not in such a deep heat. Now though, none of it made you care, because your body was wrecked by absolute pleasure as Vader repeatedly speared you on his large cock, his plump sack hitting the back of your thighs with each of his thrusts. 

“So— fucking— good,” Vader groaned each word out after some particularly hard thrusts against your body and you moaned in agreement, raising your hips just enough to meet his pelvis as he continued to ram himself inside of you. You were so  _ close— _ yet another orgasm fastly approaching its climax, your insides burning. He felt you stiffen, felt your insides spasm around him and so he stilled, making you cry out.

“No— wait, alpha—” you twisted your body to look up at his mask, your eyes pleading. “Please, alpha, I swear I’ll be good,” you were earnestly crying, your need to cum again overshadowing any other desire or emotion you would have felt at being so broken and so needy for his cock. 

“I know,” he groaned, his fingers tightening on your hips to keep you still. 

“Then why did you stop—”

You felt him twitch as he pulled himself out, just enough that it made you ache from the loss of tightness and fullness of your pussy. 

“I don’t think—” his voice was strained, much more pronounced through the modulator in his mask. “I don’t think I can last much longer, little one,” he finally admitted.

You almost choked from the relief washing over you. “That’s alright,” you tried to push your hips against him, only for him to stop your movements with his hands on your hips to keep you where you were. “Alpha?” you were confused by his actions until you realized the reason for his odd behavior.

He was swelling— the base of his cock filling in, forming a knot— and to your horror you realized the knot was right outside your pussy.

“No— alpha,” you tried to move again, more desperately this time. “Your knot— please I need it—  _ please _ knot me alpha,” you were hysterical, trying to fight his strength as he held you in your position.

“ _ No _ ,” his voice was firm, much more harsher than he anticipated it to be. He relaxed his hold, running his fingers down your spine in a soothing manner. “I can’t risk it, little one. I don’t want to hurt you—”

“You won’t,” you cried. “I  _ need _ you to knot me.”

“No,” he repeated again and then he shuddered when his knot swelled up to its full size, pressing against the entrance of your folds. “If we lock now I’ll put you in danger— I won’t be able to protect you.”

You couldn’t help the anguished cry that left your lips. “Alpha…” you whined.

“I’ll still make you cum, little one,” he started moving again, resuming his fast pace, except he didn’t fill you in as thoroughly as when he was fully sheathed inside of you moments ago before his knot swelled. “I’ll make you cum over and over again until you’ll beg me to stop.”

You couldn’t help but moan at that, your climax beginning to rise to the surface with each rough jerks of his hips. His movements soon started to stutter— becoming more jolting and less in control— his own peak soon approaching after he’d kept his promise. You came several more times— back to back— gushing your fluids over his cock while he coaxed the pleasure out of you, blinding you with it, until he let out a rather loud groan— his vocoder distorting a moan into something that sounded particularly sultry to your ears— and then you felt him spill his seed inside your womb, his cock twitching and spasming while he spurred his hot release inside of you— catching himself before he fell on top of you from the intense feeling of pleasure washing over him and disorienting him for a moment. He hadn’t felt  _ that _ way in years— he’d almost forgotten what it felt like. 

You were the first to shift— instantly feeling disappointed at how easy it was to move away from him— the missing key in this puzzle that you were most looking forward to. To be  _ knotted _ . 

“Alpha,” you drew his attention to you when he finally jerked his body and pulled out of you, making you hiss. Your head was cleared enough— the first wave of your heat receding and allowing you to think for a moment without constant ache between your thighs and the need to be fucked. That could wait— you’d be going through these a lot for the next few days. 

“What is it, little one?” Vader  _ did _ sound out of breath, his respirator making more of its wheezing noises. For a split moment you thought he was hurt, that he overexerted himself but he quickly picked up on your stray thoughts and reassured you otherwise. “Trust me, little one, that is  _ not _ the reason why I’m in such a state,” he almost sounded teasing until you turned around and found his swelled knot right in your view, his cock still leaking and twitching at the sight.

“Alpha—” you tried to reach for him but he stopped your hand with his own.

“ _ Don’t _ ,” he warned. “I’ll be alright.”

“But—”

“I’ll be alright,” he repeated again. “It will… pass.”

You were not so convinced as you doubtfully looked at him. “But doesn’t it feel… painful?”

Vader lifted his other hand to trail his fingers across your cheek. “Don’t worry about me, little one. I’m the one who should be worried about you, not the other way around. Let me take care of  _ you _ , little omega.”

“Alpha—”

“I need to get you some more food,” he stated matter-of-factly before withdrawing himself from you, picking up his codpiece from the ground and fastening it around his still stiff cock, suppressing a groan of pain as his fingers brushed against his aching length. What he wouldn’t give to be inside of you again, his knot locked in place while he continued to empty his sack and fill up your womb with his seed. He had to shake his head— he was still coming down from his alpha-mode.

“Vader,” you grabbed his hand before he had the chance to move away. He tilted his helmet to look down at you. “Do you think—” you blushed, your earlier confidence disappearing and replaced with bashfulness now that your actions weren’t controlled by ravaged hormones. 

“What is it?” Vader could have easily read your thoughts but he didn’t, instead choosing to wait for you to get out whatever was on your mind. 

“Do you think—” you tried again, biting your lip. “That if it was safe enough… you’d knot me— next time?” you were looking at him with hope in your eyes.

The question had taken him by surprise. “You— you really… want this?”

You nodded your head, embarrassment washing over you as you quickly looked away from him. “I think… for my first time… I’d rather it be you than anyone else,” you were chewing on your lip, blushing profusely. You didn’t want to admit but you’d rather have Vader for any of your firsts— first orgasm, first sex, first knot— first everything. It could be your hormones talking— could be very well the product of your heat— but right now you couldn’t be more sure than you’d ever been in your life. You wanted Vader to knot you, breed you— mate you.

Your eyes widened when you realized what you’d just thought out loud and you quickly looked up to see him stiffen. He had heard you, everything down to the detail. You’d just admitted to him your deepest desires.

“Little one,” his voice was strained. “You don’t want me as  _ your _ alpha.  _ Believe _ me.”

You were about to open your mouth, about to protest that he was wrong, or even to take the words back, but Vader was already moving away to the exit of the cave. 

“Try to get some rest, little one. I’ll get you some food. Save your energy for the next wave…” he hesitated for only a moment. “I’ll be where you’ll need me to be— by your side,” and then he disappeared, leaving you alone— naked, satisfied, exhausted but also  _ hurt _ . Because you didn’t believe him.

  
You  _ knew _ that he was destined to become your alpha. 


	7. Earth And Leather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More smut, more filth and some sprinkles of fluff~  
> Oh, and of course, the all time favorite old fashioned blow job cause why not :p  
> Enjoy~

Your body had just passed another heat wave— sometime on your third or fourth day (you couldn’t keep track of the time, combined with your extreme episodes of heat and sleeping in between the intense fucking that Vader was all but willing to give you, still refusing to knot you much to your own disappointment)— when you were finally able to distinctly think and function for longer periods of time without feeling like a complete mopping mess— horny and desperate for Vader’s touch. It gave you enough time to think over everything that had happened over the last few days, although your memory was quite spotty. You remembered bits and pieces— mostly just flashes of your pathetic moaning and begging for Vader’s cock. It was mortifying to think that you had given in so easily— yet the burning was still there between your legs and you knew your heat was far from over. You’d still need Vader— over and over again— until your body passed the heat. You hoped it would be any day now. Going through this was quite exhausting, taking an immense toll on your body. Which was why Vader was currently forcing you to eat—  _ again _ . 

“You need to finish it  _ all _ ,” his voice grumbled beside you, while you were sitting in his lap, his back pressed against the cave wall as he watched you try to finish the piece of meat he brought you.

“I’m  _ trying _ ,” you whined. You weren’t quite  _ that _ hungry, but you knew you needed your energy. Which was why it was taking you a particularly longer time to finish the tasteless meat, covered in weird burn marks like any other time he brought food to the cave. You finally had enough clarity to ask him about it. “Are those marks—” you trailed off, casting a sideways glance to the lightsaber laying off to the side next to Vader.

He rumbled again, his whole body reverberating with the noise— like he was laughing. It was hard to tell through the modulator but you suspected he was amused at your question.

“Yes,” he answered. “It wouldn’t have been the wisest idea to make a fire— it would have attracted the beasts.”

You hummed in agreement, finishing the meat. “Never thought it could be used that way.”

“Neither did I,” he replied. “Desperate times call for desperate actions.”

You flushed, avoiding his gaze as you finally finished eating, now gulping down the water in your attempt to appease your dry palate— you’ve lost quite a lot of fluids over the last few days while you were gushing with your slick. It was a good thing it started to rain again— it rained quite a lot in this place— and Vader was collecting all the rain water in the small jug. 

Vader resolved in touching you again while you were distracted— he was doing that quite a lot lately— his gloved fingers lightly roaming over your body, mostly just your backside and your neck. Occasionally his fingers would swipe across the swollen gland on your neck, making you softly whine, like he was doing it now. You were instantly aroused, your slick gathering at your folds and dripping down the inside of your thighs— and on top of his suit as you straddled his hips. Your breath caught in your throat, feeling another heat wave approaching, making you shiver as you pressed yourself closer to Vader, your chest rubbing against his chest box. You had his cape draped over you to keep you warm but you were already spiking up with fever— your body’s temperature rising a few degrees— making you  _ hot _ . So you shrugged the offending piece of material off of you, instantly feeling better as the cold air of the cave bit into your skin. 

You couldn’t help the soft moan as you nuzzled your face into the crook of his neck— the cold and unforgiving metal of his collar pressing against your forehead, taking away some of the heat off your face. You couldn’t help but deeply inhale, rubbing your nose against the junction of his collar to his shoulder guards, instinctively knowing where his own scent gland would be if it wasn't hidden by thick and impregnable layers of his suit. You wished you could smell him, wanted to know what his alpha scent smelled like. So far you had only smelled his own release— a strong and musky odor emitting from the only revealed part of his body to your eyes— to his cock. He had taken the codpiece off before settling in with you and right now his own heat was pressing against your swollen folds, making you gasp with breath. He wasn’t quite as hard, but he was growing, already anticipating to rut with you in mere moments. 

“ _ Alpha _ ,” you moaned, only pressing your body further into his and you instinctively bared your teeth, nibbling on the hard surface of the shoulder guard of his suit, making him jolt and his cock twitch against you.

“ _ Omega _ ,” he replied, his voice taking a rougher tone. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Your— your scent gland— it’s there isn’t it?” you asked with a meek voice, still hiding your face from his gaze as he tilted his mask down.

“Yes,” he admitted, refusing to elaborate more. You were curious, enough that it made you finally lift up your head to find the black visors of his mask staring down at you.

“What— what do you smell like?” the questions just rolled off your lips before you had the chance to stop yourself and your eyes widened, instantly feeling foolish for asking him that. He didn’t seem as perturbed by your question as you currently felt. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted rather matter-of-factly. “I can’t smell myself.”

You flushed but kept your gaze on him. “C-can you smell  _ me _ ?”

He tilted his mask to the side, as though your question had surprised him. Of course he could smell you— your scent was all over the cave, all over him. You permeated his senses, soaked into his skin. He couldn’t get  _ enough _ of your scent. It was almost maddening what it was doing to him. 

“I can,” he reached his hand out again, trailing his fingers around the swollen patch on the skin of your neck, making you hiss as how overstimulated it made you feel by him just touching you there. What would it have felt like for him to sink his teeth there— for him to mark you— to bond you— to make you  _ his _ ? 

The slick that gushed out of you was enough of the evidence of how much your thoughts of being bonded had aroused you— enough to gain Vader’s attention as he stilled his movements, catching on to your stray thoughts.

“ _ Omega _ ,” he growled again, his alpha tone making you shudder and helplessly whine as you shifted your hips to bring yourself closer to him— rubbing yourself right against his stiffened cock.

“C-can you take off your suit?” your mind was getting fuzzy, your senses once again consumed by the need to be fucked. 

“Not here,” his answer had surprised you. You weren’t even sure if that was possible— you were just curious enough to know if any other parts of his suit were removable— like his codpiece. “In the controlled environment— yes.”

Your breath hitched in your throat. Did that mean that the rumors were true? “ _ Controlled _ ?” you asked, your voice barely above whisper.

“I don’t wear my suit for intimidation, little one,” was it your imagination or did Vader sound regretful? “I was badly wounded— many years ago. Enough to leave me dependent on this life support.”

You instantly felt bad for asking him that, blaming your curiosity for your lack of tact. “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be,” he swiftly interrupted you. “It happened a long time ago.”

“Did it— does it still hurt?” you whispered.

“Sometimes,” he admitted, his voice sounding more reserved as though the topic of your discussion was not something he wished to discuss. “Not when I’m with you,” he added, his answer making you gasp in surprise. “You take my pain away— your presence… it’s  _ soothing _ .”

You couldn’t help but smile at his admission. You couldn’t help but acknowledge that it was true in your case too— that Vader’s presence was making you feel safe, making you feel grounded while you were vulnerable in your heat. Never once had he hurt you— or made you feel anything but pleasure and satisfaction by rutting with you. You suddenly felt the desire to repay him back for everything he’d done for you in the last few days. 

“Vader—” you hesitated, biting at your lip, suddenly feeling unsure of yourself.

“What is it, little one?”

You tried to collect your thoughts, the pressing desire building up in your lower belly making it almost impossible to think. “C-can I… do something… for you?” you flushed scarlet red and you had a suspicion that Vader could clearly see the redness coloring your cheeks even in darkness. 

“Do something?” he repeated, tilting his mask again, the action so human that it almost made you laugh at how confused he looked.

You nodded your head, your words stuck in your throat. 

“What is it you want to do?” he asked. You were grateful he wasn’t trying to actively listen to your thoughts, respecting your privacy while you tried to formulate a response.

“Can you— can you close your eyes?” you stumbled with your words. 

“What for?” you didn’t want him to get suspicious so you hurried with your response, before you lost the nerve altogether.

“Please— just… let me  _ do _ something— I promise it will be good,” you at least hoped so— you’ve never done anything like that before so you didn’t even know if it would feel good for him. “Just… close your eyes and promise me you won’t peak,” you stumbled over your words, biting your lip as you waited for him to make up his mind to take you up on his offer. 

“Alright,” he finally conceded, curious himself to find out what it was you were up to. “Eyes closed.”

You gave him an unimpressed look. “How do I know they’re actually closed?”

He chuckled at that. “I give you my word.”

You pursed your lips but nonetheless you believed him as you started untangling yourself from his hold, careful in your movements as to not give away what you were trying to do. You were nervous— you hoped he didn’t feel it radiating off of you and tipping him off that something was wrong. You managed to pull away from him, enough that it gave you some room to move and then you raked your eyes over his form— marveling at his large and massive body— until your gaze landed on the part of him that wasn’t covered, his arousal standing at full attention and leaking beads of his own precum. 

You licked your lips, inching yourself closer to him on all fours. You couldn’t shake the need to want to smell him— the need to taste him. And before he could stop you or realize what you were doing, you ducked your head down and closed your lips around the head of his cock. 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” he hissed, his whole body jumping at the sensation of your warm lips around his cock, making him swear in the native language of his home world. “Little one— you don’t— you don’t have to do it—” he groaned out after you released him from your mouth and licked a wet trail down his shaft with your tongue, marveling at the exquisite taste and smell radiating off of him. 

“But I  _ want _ to,” you replied with a breathless tone, looking up at his mask. You imagined him to be wide-eyed and gaping at you with a stunned expression on his face. You managed to catch Darth Vader off his guard and you had to hide the small smile on your lips by ducking your head lower and beginning to slowly lap at the opening of the head of his cock, gathering more beads of his precum and savoring the taste.

Vader groaned again, louder this time, his whole body tensing under your touch. “I’m supposed to— kriff— take care of  _ you _ ,” his vocoder made a non-distinguishable noise, muffling some grunts and moans that escaped his lips as you resumed your exploration with your tongue, trailing it along the many ridges and scars that covered his shaft— a product of what had befallen him that put him in his suit. You didn’t mind— if anything it only added to the character of the uniqueness that Vader seemed to possess— captivating you as you finally stopped at the extra loose skin at the base of his cock, looking down at it in wonder. His knot was still loose, hadn’t yet swelled to form a large bulge, but you were still treating it as though it was the most precious thing as you placed a small kiss there. 

Vader shifted above you, spreading his legs just enough to give you a better access and you were grateful, because you also wanted to shower his plump ball sack with your undivided attention as you placed equally tender kisses on his balls— toying with them as you popped one in your mouth and gently sucked— and Vader’s whole body jerked again, his hand shooting out and grasping tendrils of your hair, freezing your movements with his hold.

“ _ Omega _ ,” his voice was a sharp rasp.

“You don’t like it?” you looked up at him with alarm in your eyes.

“No—  _ no _ ,” he sounded breathless. “It’s not that— I like it— I just—” he was unused to sound so perplexed, so  _ confused _ . 

“Just what?” you were confused yourself, not understanding why he had stopped you. 

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he finally admitted, his hold lessening on your hair but not completely removing his hand from your head, allowing you just enough movement as you raised your head right above the tip of his stiff member. 

“You won’t,” you reassured him with a small smile. “You didn’t before,” and before he could stop you again, you enveloped him back in your mouth, applying suction with your cheeks as you sucked on his cock. You felt him shudder— heard a broken moan escaping his mask— and then he tightened his hold on your head and  _ pushed _ . 

You knew he was large— had seen him several times to know that fact, felt him tearing your walls as he speared you with his large shaft. You weren’t prepared for his massiveness as he thrust his hips inside your tight mouth, felt him push past your throat and you  _ gagged _ , your virgin mouth incapable of adjusting fast enough to his intrusion. He didn’t stop— if anything he only groaned and kept pushing— he wasn’t even half-way in and you felt like you were about to choke, felt like if you didn’t control your gag reflex that you would retch all the food he forced you to eat only some moments prior. 

You muffled a protest but it sounded like a moan, your eyes tearing up at the intrusion. You looked like a mess— with your eyes wide open and spit drooling at the corners of your mouth, while you tried to take him whole. You managed to suppress the gagging but you still had a hard time breathing, his cock taking up all the space in your mouth and throat for you to properly do that.

“Your mouth feels so good, little one,” Vader groaned. “So fucking hot and wet— do you know how you look like right now?” he sent you a mental image inside your mind from his own perspective and your core throbbed, more slick dripping out of you when you saw yourself looking absolutely glazed over with desire while he ravaged your mouth. 

“You  _ wanted _ this, didn’t you?” he continued, his alpha-mode fully taking control of him once more. “You wanted me to ruin your mouth— make you gag. I’ve heard your lewd thoughts before, you filthy little thing.”

You only moaned in response, your mouth feeling cramped as he continued to push himself in— until he was fully sheathed inside your mouth, his crotch pressing against your face, making you see stars. You concentrated on breathing— your throat tightening around his cock and making him groan.

“So good for me, little one,” Vader finally moved, trying out the new position as he allowed himself to withdraw from your mouth and then slowly thrust himself back in— still cognizant enough to not harm you in his alpha state. “Took me so well— such a good little omega.”

His praise only made you swell with pride, making your pussy drip even more as you let him fuck your mouth. You couldn’t help your omega instincts taking over you— you wanted to please the alpha, wanted him to be proud of you. So you moaned and sputtered each time he thrust his hips inside your mouth, soon moving with a pace that was comfortable enough for you as you adjusted to his intrusion, your throat widening enough to let you take gasps of air each time he withdrew.

You lost track of time, your vision constantly moving as Vader grunted above you, his belt and his mask moving in and out of your focus until you reached a peak of your own arousal— you were shamelessly cumming, letting out muffled moans around his cock while your whole body spasmed, your ass arching in the air as more fluids gushed out of your folds, dripping down your legs and onto the floor of the cave. 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Vader breathed and then he pulled himself out of you completely— and before you had the chance to gather your bearings he was already hosting you up in the air above his hips and slamming you down on top of his cock, making you cry with renewed intensity as your walls clamped around him from your still on-going orgasm. 

“Alpha—” you choked, almost falling into his chest but he caught you, supporting your body as he held your hips with his hands. This new position was different— you felt all the ridges and scars of his cock inside of you— pushing even deeper than before, and you moaned, your eyes rolling in the back of your head at the new sensation.

“So good for me,” Vader zoned out as he started grinding his hips against yours, the animalistic action sending shivers down your spine. You’ve never seen him lose so much of his control— he was unstoppable as he thrust himself with such abandon you would have thought it was his last rut. You grabbed his biceps, trying to remain upright as he rammed his cock in and out of you, the slap of hips resonating around the walls of the cave. And the  _ sounds—  _ maker, they were so  _ obscene _ . 

You felt the beginning of the swell just below the junction of your bodies, his movements becoming more sporadic. You couldn’t wait any longer— you had to have him.

“Alpha—” you choked again, your voice hoarse from the abuse your throat had taken. “Is there— do you feel any of the— ah— beasts— nearby?”

“What?” he sounded so far-away to his own ears, not registering the meaning of your words right away. “Oh— that— no,” he didn’t even understand why you were asking him that. He would have sensed them even in the middle of his rut. You were safe— as safe as you two could be in this cave.

“That’s— good,” you breathed, timing your movements perfectly as Vader’s knot swelled up to his full size and then you used all of your strength to slam down on top of him just as he thrust upwards and you almost passed out from the sensation of his large knot sliding past the tight lips of your pussy, locking you in place.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Vader actually screamed— it was mixed with the harsh sound of his vocoder making it sound so much more discordant than it really was. He couldn't stop himself even if he could— he was already cumming, spilling his hot seed inside your womb as he drained himself and you followed him to the brink of your own release— your walls clenching around his cock and his knot, feeling  _ impossibly _ full— as you rode out your orgasm with a piercing scream of your own. 

“Fuck,” Vader groaned again, regaining his composure instantly as soon as his orgasm passed. He was knotted deep within you, solid and locked in place— his cock still draining inside of you. He was far too stunned to want to yell at you, to berate you for your foolishness, because the knot felt just right. Him locked in place with you, your bodies joined as nature had foreseen it between alphas and omegas— it all felt  _ right _ . Because it had been far too long for him to remember how it felt to be with his own kind— with  _ his _ omega. 

You finally collapsed on top of him, burying your face in his chest as you softly mewled against him, your omega instincts making you mellow and coo with delight at finally getting what you’d always wanted. You couldn’t describe the sensation of being knotted— only that you couldn’t imagine having sex any other way after that. If Vader’s cock felt particularly intrusive inside of you on regular basis, his knot was on the next level of extreme, so swelled up and so fucking large that it felt like you would rupture. Only that instead of pain you had immense pleasure coursing through your body. You didn’t even register him speaking to you until he nudged you.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he didn’t sound particularly angry but he also didn’t sound pleased. “I can’t protect you once we are locked like that, little one— you should know better.”

You whimpered, suddenly feeling a pang of guilt and hurt at hearing his words.  _ Bad omega _ , you thought to yourself, unwillingly projecting the hurt through your scent— one that Vader instantly picked up on both through the smell and through the Force.

“Little one,” he tried to lift your chin but you only further shrunk against his chest. “I didn’t—  _ kriff— _ I’m not angry with you. I only meant it as— it’s too dangerous out here. I can only use the Force so much against them— if they were to attack I won’t be able to move.”

Still you refused to respond, feeling even more guilty and anguished than before. Your high was long gone and you were crying— trying to stifle your tears and sniffles— but of course, Vader could sense that too.

“ _ Don’t _ ,” now he was feeling like the worst alpha ever. “I didn’t—  _ I’m sorry _ ,” his voice was a broken rasp. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like this,” he tried to lift your chin again and this time you let him as he slowly raised your face to look at his mask. “I-I enjoyed it— really— I still do,” he shifted his hips just enough to confirm his words as he groaned, his knot still locked deep within you, sending renewed shivers down your spine as you felt yourself respond to his attempts to make you feel better. 

“I’m sorry…” you murmured, your voice still raspy and almost broken. 

“Did I hurt you?” he was instantly on alarm. “Earlier— did I push you too far?” he was referring to him losing his control as he fucked your mouth.

You smiled, despite tears still trailing down your cheeks. “No— it felt good.”

“Your voice—” he started.

“What did you expect?” you almost had the urge to roll your eyes. “I’ve never done that before— and well… you’re not particularly small sized either.”

“Small?” he frowned beneath the mask and this time you laughed, picking up on the one thing he decided to single out out of the whole sentence.

“Large,” you clarified with a smile in your voice, although it was still raspy and almost a whisper. “I meant that you’re rather large— I’ve never had anything that big in my mouth before,” you blushed as you admitted the truth to him. 

He simply groaned in content and shifted his hips again. “I meant what I said,” he trailed his fingers down your face, swiping at the tears. “I’m not angry with you, little one— and I’m sorry.”

You nodded your head, biting your lip as you gazed at him. He was an enigma to you: he was harsh yet he had soft edges around him, he was powerful yet he displayed moments of weakness around you, especially when he wanted to please you. You never took him for a man to apologize for his mistakes— yet here he was, telling you he was sorry not once but twice, because he had made you upset after he rightfully berated you for your own slip that could have cost both of your lives. He was right after all— you both were unable to move for a while— until his knot softened within you, which could take a while. 

“What?” he tilted his helmet as he gazed at you. He was curious to know why you were looking at him like that. 

“Nothing,” you smiled and then ducked back down against him, pressing your nose into the spot where you nibbled on his armor, leaving some touch of teeth marks against the leather of his suit. You inhaled him again— he still smelled good, that musky smell of his arousal permeating your senses. 

“You smell like earth,” you mumbled against him. “Earth and leather.”

  
He hummed, his chest rumbling against your body as he lifted the forgotten cape off the ground with the Force and draped it over your body. You felt tired— peacefully so, exhausted beyond what your body could take— as you started dozing off. You knew he’d stay awake, ensure that you were safe while he waited for his knot to soften. But even then, he wouldn’t pull out of you, letting you fall asleep against his chest while he was buried inside your warmth. Because it felt  _ right _ . It felt like  _ home _ . 


	8. A Scratch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to the plot (because this story is not just about porn :p)  
> Hope you enjoy it and Happy Holidays ~

“Are you _certain_ you are able to make the walk back to my ship?” Vader had asked you in the early hours of the morning, soon after you assured him your heat had finally passed. 

“I’m sure,” you sighed, trying to adjust what was left of your clothing. Your shirt was torn to pieces— thanks to Vader’s impatient ways of undressing you. He ripped it apart, including your pants, so you were left with barely anything as you tightened the thick material of Vader’s cape around your body, glad for the fact that at least your boots and your jacket were left untouched. It still left you feeling exposed, your cheeks flushing in the early rays of sunrise.

He had apologized about that— even after you assured him that it was fine, just so he could stop talking. Your mind was still replaying last night’s memory of the final time you two were joined, your bodies moving against one another as you screamed his name, gushing yourself on his erect cock. And you certainly couldn’t stop thinking about _that_ either, your eyes automatically shifting to his codpiece, blushing even more. He caught your stare— much to your own horror. 

“Are you alright—”

“ _Fine_ ,” you squeaked, walking past him, berating yourself for your own lack of self-control. What was wrong with you in the first place? Your heat was finally over, there was no need for you to keep staring at him, keep wishing— for what?

“ _Omega_ ,” he growled behind you and you only blushed harder. _Karking hell._

“I’m just sore,” you admitted just so he could drop the subject. “But I’m perfectly capable of walking. I needed to stretch my muscles anyway.”

“Don’t walk in front of me,” he reached out for you and grabbed a hold of your shoulder, spinning you around. “You don’t know the way and it is still too dangerous.”

You gulped, his touch sending electric shock through your body, even though you couldn’t feel the rough material of his gloves on your bare body. “Al-alright,” you stammered and he finally dropped his hand from you.

“Good,” he nodded and then led the rest of the way off the mountain, occasionally stopping and helping you cross some particularly large boulders, especially ones that required you to stretch your legs. Perhaps he could feel your discomfort, either in the Force or through your scent, or perhaps he was attuned to your thoughts, because the trek down was definitely more uncomfortable than you thought it would be. Your insides were sore— and the spot between your legs throbbed and then you couldn’t help as you started thinking about the last few days and Vader’s rough way of dominating you with his large cock—

“Omega,” Vader’s voice brought you back to the present and you snapped your head to find him watching you. He hesitated for a moment, debating with himself if he should really speak up about the fact that your loud thoughts were too distracting and that he now had a stiffened pressure hidden by his codpiece. Instead, he reached for you and before you could protest, he picked you up in his arms.

“What are you—”

“You are slowing us down,” was the only valid response he could come up with that didn’t sound like he was craving to touch you, or feel your heat against his body. 

You snorted but refused to answer, burying your face into his chest as he continued to carry you all the way back to his ship. You both were quiet the whole way back, each of you lost in your own thoughts. It was only after Vader finally reached the destination when he broke the awkward silence.

“I will send the distress signal immediately,” he announced after he set you down next to the ship. “If everything goes according to the plan, my fleet should be here within the next day.”

You simply nodded your head, refusing to look at him. So, you only had one more day of freedom. You weren’t even sure how it made you feel, except that you were trying hard to keep your thoughts from reaching Vader.

“You can take the rest inside,” he continued as he went around to the front of the ship to send the signal. Somehow the thought of being all alone in the small space of the ship did not sit well with you so you followed after Vader, stopping just short of arm's length from him as you watched him work.

“You’re good with it,” you blurted out after a while, and he paused momentarily, turning his mask your way. “I meant the ship,” you continued, feeling your cheeks flushing. Why couldn’t you stop blushing for kriff’s sake?

Vader resumed his work. “I’m good at fixing things,” he replied.

You hummed, a small smile forming on your lips. “It seems you’re also good at designing things,” you gestured towards the advanced TIE fighter— Vader’s own model. “It’s quite impressive.”

He paused again. “Yes— it appears to be that way,” he was trying to hide the fact that your words made him swell with some unknown emotion, most closely resembling… pride? Because the omega had complimented him and it made him want to impress you even more. He clamped down on that feeling before it manifested into something more that was until his senses prickled and he stopped.

“Say—” you started, unaware that Vader’s whole body tensed, until he roughly grabbed your arm, his other hand reaching for the lightsaber and you gasped, your whole body freezing at the unexpected roughness. “What—”

“Get inside the ship,” Vader barked, his tone leaving no room for argument as he pushed you inside the compartment.

“Vader—” but he was already shutting the latch in your face and you could only stare in complete bewilderment. What the hell? That was until you heard a loud growl from somewhere nearby but still far away, making you shudder from the intensity of the noise. Whatever was making it must have been huge. Your senses proved to be correct when you hastily made your way to the cockpit, staring out into the viewport in complete horror.

The thing was _huge—_ twice the size of Vader (and he was by no means a short man), towering over Vader’s figure as he stood stock still with his red blade drawn and ready for the incoming attack. The beast growled again, scratching the ground with his large, armored, taloned legs, his thick, knobbed scales moving around the thick body in preparation for the leap. And then— in the blink of an eye— the fight ensured and Vader was moving at an incredible speed, trying to avoid the beast's attacks. You couldn’t help but scream when the beast managed to knock Vader off his feet with its large tail, stunning him for a moment to leap in the air and land on top of him— until the beast was flung aside by what you presumed was the Force itself, Vader holding out his arm as he held the beast in his invisible grip. And then it was all over— Vader used his blade to cut through the beast’s neck with a sickening crunch of the beast’s thick armor, smoke radiating off the cut— and then the thing was dead. 

Your body moved before you registered your own movements, exiting the ship and crossing over to Vader’s hunched form in rapid steps, forgetting about the sting between your own legs until you were only a few feet away before Vader finally registered your presence.

“I told you to stay inside,” he snarled, the menace in his voice terrorizing you on the spot. He straightened out, his back still turned your way, holding on to his side with one hand until you noticed the reason for his hostility. 

“You— you’re _bleeding_ ,” you exclaimed, forgetting all about your terror as you crossed the last few feet, reaching for him with your trembling hands.

“Get inside,” he snarled again, stopping your hand with his own as he finally turned around. “There could be more of them—”

You shook your head, your eyes still glued to the trickle of blood at his side. “Let me take a look.”

“It’s just a scratch,” he hissed, drawing your attention to his mask as he tugged on you. 

“Doesn’t look that way to me,” you argued back.

“I’ve had much worse,” he scoffed. “Trust me, little one, this is _nothing_.”

“Then let me take a look,” you hissed, glaring at the lenses of his mask. “If it’s just a _scratch_.”

You thought for a split moment that Vader wouldn’t move his hand— or worse, just tug you back towards the ship and lock you there for good, because it took a few cycles of his respirator before he actually moved his hand away from the wound and you couldn't hold back the gasp.

“It doesn’t feel as bad as it looks,” he quickly supplied, reading your loud thoughts as you observed the wound. It looked like the beast managed to puncture the suit with its large talons when it landed on top of Vader and when he tried to push it away, the beast latched on to the skin and _ripped_ it open, both the leather of the suit and the skin and muscles underneath it, leaving several large gashes at Vader’s side, oozing with thick dark blood. 

“You have the medkit in the ship, I hope?” you finally looked up.

“Yes, but—”

“Well then, come on,” you tugged on his hand that still held your own in his tight grip.

“I don’t need—”

“Don’t argue,” you interrupted him again, walking ahead of him back towards the ship. 

He was stunned for a moment, letting you lead him without any resistance until you disappeared inside the ship, rummaging through the supplies until you found what you were looking for. A generic medkit, supplied on each Imperial TIE fighter. It didn’t contain mainly as much stuff as the kit you had on your own ship, but it would have to do while you opened the container to find a small amount of bacta-patch and some gauze. You quickly went to work as you directed Vader to sit, applying pressure on the wound to stop bleeding. 

“What _was_ that thing?” you finally asked after you couldn’t take much of the silence, growing uncomfortable under Vader’s hidden stare.

“A zakkeg,” he replied, his gaze still on your face. You flinched, remembering him mentioning the name of the beast when you were trying to make your way back to the rebel’s ship. You could only imagine what would have happened to you if you had stumbled upon it all by yourself. “One of the rare alpha-predators.”

“Alpha?” you looked up in surprise. 

“Yes— it seems it smelled your scent.”

You flinched, instantly feeling guilty. “I’m sorry—”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Vader quickly supplied. “It must have smelled your scent on me— I’m covered with it after all.”

His reply did nothing to soothe your nerves. “But… you got _hurt_ ,” your voice hitched. 

“Little one,” Vader stopped your movements, drawing your gaze back to his mask. “It was my own negligence of the zakkeg’s abilities that caused me to get injured. You have nothing to apologize for.”

You were still unconvinced, biting your lip as you resumed your care of the wound. The bleeding had subsidized and you started cleaning the skin with the antimicrobial cloth. You knew it was not life-threatening and that Vader would recover but you still felt guilty for being the reason why he was attacked in the first place.

He shifted on the spot, stopping your movements once more. “I can take over from here, little one.”

You immediately pushed his hand back, glaring at him. “Let me take care of you, alpha.” _Like you took care of me_ , you thought to yourself, flush coloring your cheeks. 

To your surprise, Vader chuckled. “I quite enjoy your confidence, little one. Not many would dare to use that tone with me.”

You weren’t even sure how to take his comment— was that a warning or was Vader giving out a rather unusual compliment your way? You decided to swiftly change the subject.

“You seem to know quite a lot about this place,” you commented.

“Yes,” he replied. “I do have quite an extensive knowledge of most of the planets and their surrounding moons— in case for rare instances such as this one.”

You were honestly surprised to hear him say that. He noticed your look and rumbled. “Are you surprised?”

“Yes,” you looked back down. “It must require a lot of your time then.”

“It did,” he agreed. “Not so much anymore— I have completed most of my research in my early years— a necessity of my position in the Empire.”

Of course. He was the second most powerful man in the Empire. There was no power without knowledge— he had to have known at least _something_ about each part of the galaxy he was responsible for being its enforcer of peace and justice. You almost scoffed at your naive thoughts— this must have been a cruel joke. Vader instantly picked up on your thoughts.

“You despise the Empire,” he noted with a monotone voice. “And you joined those rebels…” you shot him a warning look, clenching the bacta patch in your grip. 

“I did what I thought was _right_ ,” you hissed.

He paused for a moment, as though listening to your turbulent thoughts whirling wildly in your head. “The occupation of your planet was a necessary step to ensure peace within the galaxy—”

“That’s _enough_ ,” you hastily plastered the bacta patch on the wound, itching to get away from him before you decided to dig your own fingers into his wound just to evoke in him the feelings of your own pain as you recalled your parents’ death. Vader had no right to spew this Imperial nonsense to you about peace. The Empire was the one to blame for your home world invasion and subsequent catastrophe that ensured deaths of thousands of people. 

“ _Omega_ ,” he growled, reaching for you just as you stepped away from him.

“No,” you growled back. “You don’t get to use your alpha tone with me.”

“That’s not—”

But you were already moving away from, not interested even in the slightest of what other lies he was going to spew about the righteousness of the Empire. You were naive to think that anything between you had changed just because he spent a whole week rutting with you. _Maker—_ and you had actually enjoyed it, you were _begging_ for it. 

You grimly thought that in the next day or so you would be begging for whole other things. Your impending doom was soon to come at the hands of the Empire, even if Vader claimed that you were safe. 


	9. The Parting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you all had a fabulous time celebrating. I, for once, was tucked away at home watching Star Wars movies and writing this chapter. I had been somewhat unmotivated with writing chapters as of lately, so I hope this one is alright. Enjoy~

“Eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

A frustrating noise escaped Vader’s mask. “You  _ will _ eat—”

“Is that an order?” 

Another stretch of silence. “It’s not an order, merely a concern.”

You had an urge to roll your eyes. “I think I’ll be fine, thank you very much.”

A sudden movement caused you to stiffen and Vader was in front of you. “ _ Enough _ with the mockery,” he snapped. “Do  _ not _ test my patience, little one.”

You almost forgot how to breathe. Then, almost begrudgingly, you nodded your head and grabbed the piece of meat and began eating it in silence, avoiding looking at Vader. Your stomach was in knots and you could barely even swallow the food but you had no choice but to comply. Who knew when would be the next time you ate? For all you knew, this could be your last meal. And the last thing you wanted to do was to incur the infamous wrath of Darth Vader and force his hand in punishing you for your insolence. You knew that was coming— if not by his hand then by someone in the Empire.

Another frustrated noise escaped his mask. “Your thoughts never seem to stop amusing me with your imagination.”

You scoffed. “Oh, so this is  _ amusing _ to you? Torturing people is fun to you?”

“I never said anything about torture,” was his curt reply as he sat across from you next to the ship. It was late in the evening, the sun was setting down and creating shadows around you. But you could still make out a glint of his mask. 

“You don’t need to,” you tossed the meat away, unable to finish it. “It’s expected.”

He regarded you from his spot. “You seem to think that would be your fate.”

“Isn’t it?” you finally looked up, training your gaze on him. “I mean what else can I expect from the Empire? Are you telling me they’d welcome me with open arms?” you sneered, unable to hold the disdain from your voice. 

“Quite the opposite,” you shivered from the finality in his voice. So you were right all along.

“So why not kill me now?” you challenged him. “You could get all the secrets out of my head in no time, you probably won’t have to resort to any drugs or torture droids.”

“Are you willing to trade those secrets for your safety, then? Betray your precious Rebellion?” 

You glared at him and he made another noncommittal noise. “You won’t,” he answered for you. “Because you believe in your cause. I respect that.”

You snorted at that. “I wonder how often you say those words before you kill someone else.”

“I don’t,” he agreed and you were somewhat surprised that he was willing to share with you a piece of his internal self— of what made him to be Vader that you’ve heard so many stories of. “But that doesn’t mean that you can’t be the first one.”

“Because I’m an omega?” you sneered. “Because you can’t kill me?”

“That’s part of it,” he replied. 

“And what’s the other part?” you asked when he failed to elaborate more. 

“It’s best that you don’t know,” was his curt response.

“Is that why you fucked me?” you couldn’t help the animosity in your voice nor the vulgarity of your words, and you didn’t care. 

“What?” you seemed to startle him with your abrupt question.

You almost had the desire to laugh. “You didn’t kill me because you wanted to use me first. Wanted to fuck one of my kind because you’d never get a chance like that again,” the more you talked the more tense Vader appeared to be, the aura around him becoming stiffer and colder. Or maybe it was just because it was getting chiller now that the sun had finally disappeared. 

“Or maybe you just lied,” you continued. “Maybe that’s what happened to all the other omegas the Empire had come across. Do they send them all to you? Because if that’s the case—”

“ _ Enough _ ,” you felt tendrils of the Force swirling around you, pinning you in place. You watched him with fear in your eyes as he raised himself to his full height, towering over you. “You don’t know what you speak of,” he hissed.

You were pushing your luck and you knew but you couldn’t stop. “How is it fair that  _ you _ are one of them?” you spat with venom. “While the Empire is spewing bantha shit about eradicating our kind like we’re some sort of inferior species and preaching propaganda about us,  _ you _ walk among the rest freely and hunt  _ us _ down.”

“Life isn’t fair,” he spat back. “There are many things you don’t know of—”

“I know  _ enough _ ,” you almost choked on your words when you felt a slight pressure around your throat, a sign that you pushed Vader too far. “I know for a fact not everyone has the luxury to hide their scent with an elaborate suit like yours. Does the Emperor even know  _ what _ you are? Or are you some sort of prized possession—” you couldn’t speak when the pressure increased to the point of you needing to gasp and draw a ragged breath. 

“Your insolence is unwarranted,” he growled. “I’ve killed many for less offense,” for a moment you thought he might just change his mind and kill you but then the pressure eased and he let go of you, letting you take a pained gasp of needed air. “You will cease your pestering immediately.”

You glared at him with enough venom that he had the audacity to chuckle, making your anger ablaze with renewed intensity. “Your persistence is admirable and your anger…” he paused, contemplating his next choice of words. “Let’s just say if you were Force-sensitive you’d make a fine user of the Dark Side.”

“Is that your way of trying to recruit me to your cause?” you sneered. “Cause it’s not working and I’m not interested.” 

“No,” he once again took the seat across from you. “You won’t be persuaded by these methods alone and that is not my goal for you, little one.”

You really wanted to tell him to  _ stop _ calling you ‘little one’. It did marvelous things to you when you were in heat but now it was only reminding you of what you’ve done. Shame colored your cheeks and you finally broke your gaze from the lenses of Vader’s mask. You tightened his cloak around your body, trying to pretend that you weren’t practically naked underneath it. The thought of indecency outweighed your repulsion for wanting to cover yourself with something that belonged to Vader. You wondered what he’d do once his fleet arrived. Would he force you to strip naked and hand him over his cloak, while cuffing you and making you walk a walk of shame in all your nude glory? Let the rest of the galaxy laugh at how easily he managed to break your resolve when it came to being fucked by alpha? You wondered if the Empire had a special way of extracting information from your kind— if Vader was one of the alpha’s, did that mean there were more like him hidden in the ranks of the Empire? 

You heard what appeared to be a sigh escape Vader’s vocoder. “You think too much,” he announced and you stiffened until you felt a haze take over your mind and you blinked, trying to shake your head. “I need my rest and you need your sleep.”

All of the sudden you felt incredibly tired and you looked at him with alarm. “Are you doing this?”

“Sleep,” he commanded, letting his suggestion wash over your senses. You struggled to fight him, your eyes closing on their own, sudden weight taking over your body.

“No,” you moaned. “I don’t want to—”

“ _ Sleep _ ,” and then you were plunged in darkness. 

___

When you finally came around, your senses still disoriented as though you were swimming in a tank full of water, your ears echoing sounds around you, you couldn’t mistake the sound of someone talking, the noise so distinct and so familiar that you swore you’ve heard it somewhere before. You whimpered, struggling to open your eyes, only to find yourself inside Vader’s broken TIE fighter, safely tucked away in the corner. It took you a few tries to manage to lift yourself up to a sitting position, your vision still swimming and making you groan. It took you a minute to gather your senses and then you stiffened. You could  _ definitely _ hear someone talking and it wasn’t just one person. Your heart almost stopped beating when you realized what that sound was.  _ Stormtroopers _ , and by the sound of it, at least a garrison right outside the ship. 

You scrambled to your feet, tripping over the cloak when you carefully crawled to the front of the ship to look out the viewport. You almost let out a terrified whimper when you saw the view outside. Vader’s fleet finally arrived and there were several transports in the clearing, the white armored troopers moving around in haste. It appeared that the noise drew several of the native beasts to the clearing, including the drexls which you could now clearly see from your spot. 

They were winged lizards with long necks and small heads with short, wide snouts and sharp fangs. Their teeth were almost the length of a Human arm, and you could make out several of the troopers laying around the clearing covered in their own blood, bested by the beasts. These beasts were covered in purple scales and had large wings, which created the whooshing noise you mistook for the water. The battle seemed to be raging on for quite a while and you wondered how you’d missed the commotion. Only then did you remember Vader’s order the night before, his suggestion lulling you to sleep. Was that why you slept through the whole night and half of the next day? Because the outside light clearly indicated it was at least a midday. You weren’t prepared for it at all— if anything, you were dreading the moment the fight would stop and then you would be taken aboard one of the shuttles as a prisoner. 

You curled in a tight ball, letting tears fall from your eyes as you listened to the cries and blaster shots all around you, the noise soon diminishing as you tuned it out to the background, your thoughts and worries projected involuntarily as you let out small distressed whimpers, unknown to you picked up with clarity by the only alpha in the vicinity as Vader himself cut down the beasts with his blade. It only forced him to be more aggressive, the situation pressing him to finish this in a timely manner to get back to you. His alpha instincts screamed for him to tend to a distressed omega as he barked orders for the troopers. It finally stopped— the garrison managed to draw back the beasts and secure the perimeter. It took just as long for them to clear out under Vader’s direct orders, leaving at once back to the Star Destroyer orbiting the moon. 

“Little one,” you were shaken from your state by Vader himself when he finally found you curled up in a ball. “It’s alright, they’re gone.”

You kept your eyes closed, burying your face into the material of a cloak, trying to fall back to the dreamless state of sleep. Vader refused to give you that option as he shook you harder, finally yanking you up when he grew tired of it. You let out another displeased noise, finally opening your eyes to find him crouching next to you, his suit covered in the beasts’ blood.

“We don’t have much time,” he started, shoving something in your arms. “Put these on, I’ll wait for you outside.”

He left the ship before you had the chance to register his words, only then glancing down to find a set of Imperial clothes lying on your lap. You frowned, looking down at them with a confused expression on your face, hardly understanding anything at all. Why would Vader give you clothes? What was he playing at? You sat motionless for a while until Vader opened the latch and growled, finding you in the same position as before.

“What are you doing?” he hissed. “I told you to get dressed.”

You looked up at him. “Why?”

“Why  _ what _ ?” he growled. “Do you intend to be undressed?”

You were still staring at him from your spot. He moved inside, once more crouching in front of you. “You’re still affected by my Force suggestion,” he realized. “ _ And _ you’re in shock.  _ Kriff _ .”

Maybe the best course of action was for him to mind suggest for you to get dressed and follow his orders. Instead, he reached for you and started to tug on the cloak, letting it fall from your shoulders. You were still wearing your jacket but that was all. He stopped when his gaze settled on the opened slit of the jacket in front of your chest. All he had to do was lift it open and your breasts would be in his full view. Instead, he lifted his gloved fingers to your neck, trailing them across your scent gland, soothing your body with his ministrations. You let out another whimper, your body responding to his touch. 

“Every individual responds differently to mind tricks,” he started. “I didn’t realize how sensitive you were to them. I caused you a great deal of distress, little one.”

Your mind was still hazy but you were certain of one thing. The fingers on your skin felt right— they belonged there. You let out another whimper, trying to scoot closer to Vader. He stopped your advances with his hand on your neck.

“But you must  _ wake up _ , little one,” his voice took that same tone as last night. “We don’t have much time. Get dressed,” he repeated, leaving you alone once more and finally your haze broke and you stiffened, still feeling the ghost of Vader’s touch on your skin. You didn’t waste any time this time around— even though you were repulsed to wear anything given to you by the Empire, you weren’t so stubborn as to walk around naked. You had to cross the line somewhere. You debated what to do with his cloak when you simply folded it in your lap and took it with you. 

When you finally emerged from the ship, ready to be cuffed, you were paralyzed from your shock once more. There were no stormtroopers around you, the place empty except for the two aircrafts sitting side by side on the other end of the clearing. Exact replicas of Vader’s personal TIE fighter, except lacking all the advancements he had done on the one that was still broken and the one you were gripping to stabilize yourself as you took in the scene around you.

“Come,” he directed your attention back to him as he started crossing towards the aircrafts. You numbly followed behind him, watching your steps to make sure you wouldn’t step on any of the dead corpses littering the ground. 

“I trust you know how to fly one,” he motioned forward to the TIE fighter. 

You hesitantly nodded. “Yes, but—”

“The controls are sensitive,” he continued, dismissing your confusion. “Pull up on the trigger to take off. Fly straight up, do not deviate from your path until you’re in orbit. It should start raining soon, clear out before it does. The speed should be enough to outfly the drexls if they decide to chase after you. My troops should have driven them all out to give you all the time to leave this place before they return.”

You were staring at Vader with an open mouth. “Hold on a minute—”

“Take this ship to Motok, the capital of Cyrkon,” he continued, not giving you a chance to speak. “Trade it for another craft— one the Empire won’t track. There are enough credits on the ship to buy your way out of Hutt's Space. Do not talk to anyone, do not let anyone see you with this ship. If you happen to cross any Imperial vessel, give them these coordinates,” he gave you a datapad with the Imperial codes. “These will change, don’t get your hopes up for the Rebellion to use them.”

“Wait a minute,” you finally held up your hand. “Are you  _ letting me go _ ?”

Vader ignored you once more. “If your Rebellion asks for your whereabouts, tell them the truth— that your ship crashed and you were able to get out by taking another ship.”

“Vader,” you reached for him, drawing his gaze to you. “Why are you doing this?”

“I thought I made it clear,” he retorted. “Your life is too valuable to be killed off.”

“But I’m a rebel. I’m your enemy. You’d let me go—  _ just like that _ ? Am I supposed to believe that you didn’t put a tracker on the ship, or worse— maybe you’ve done something to me while I was out.”

“I haven’t—”

“And then you’d let me think I can let my guard down by leading you straight to the rebel base?” you continued. “Do you think I would really believe that?”

He grunted. “You are better off being a rebel than being captured by the Empire. Trust me, little one. I can’t protect you if they were to capture you.”

“I don’t need your protection,” you scoffed. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were worried about my safety, which is a ridiculous notion.” 

He didn’t reply and somehow you got a nagging suspicion that you were right. That Vader was actually  _ worried _ about you. You couldn’t wrap your head around that.

“Take this,” when you glanced down you saw he was holding your blaster in his grip, holding it up for you to take. The finality of his decision finally hit you when you reached for your blaster.

“But  _ why _ ?” you couldn’t help but ask. “That still doesn’t explain  _ anything _ .”

“I requested for the suppressants to be discreetly stored in one of the dashboards aboard the TIE fighter,” his fingers brushed against yours when you took the blaster and then he dropped his hand away as though you burned him. “Take them— they should kick in before you reach Cyrkon. You’ll easily blend in amidst the smugglers.” 

“And what will happen to you?” you looked up at his mask.

“Do not concern yourself about my state of well-being,” he was pushing you towards the ship. 

“Will I ever see you again?” you blurted out before you could stop yourself. You were genuinely concerned about that. Why would you ever want to see Darth Vader again? 

He paused, his hidden gaze on you, searing into your skin. “If we ever do cross the paths, it would be as enemies,” he intoned, the gravity of his words hitting you like a ton of bricks. Why did your chest constrict when you heard his words? 

“Vader—”

“It’d be much easier if you left the Rebellion,” he suddenly stated. “You don’t have to— don’t need to risk your life for them. You could live out the rest of your days as a free woman.”

“There would  _ never _ be freedom as long as the Empire stands,” you replied, your voice barely above a whisper. You couldn’t stand to fight with him any longer. The topic of your allegiance would always be a hot one— it was meant to be between the sworn enemies, standing on opposite sides of the pressing matter. “You know I can’t do that.”

He simply nodded his head— he was already aware of your answer. Yet you reached for him again, startling even yourself with your next question. “You could leave the Empire, you know?” you softly told him. “It’s never too late to turn to the other side— you don’t owe them anything.”

Maybe it was absurd to suggest something like that to the man who ensured the Empire was prospering with his ways of controlling the planets and galaxy with his iron fist. But you couldn’t help but note that there was  _ something _ about Vader which screamed to you that if he could, he would leave everything behind. It was just a sense, but the way he stiffened, the way his breathing barely changed, the way he stepped away from your touch told you more than he let on. 

“You know I can’t do that,” he echoed your earlier words and you nodded, understanding him perfectly. 

You were just turning around to step inside the ship when he called out to you, his fingers brushing your temple and you flinched. 

“I can’t let you remember me,” he told you and you stiffened, realization dawning on you until it was too late. The haze was already there inside your mind, wisps of his powers treading through your recent memories, erasing them.

“No—  _ please _ ,” you cried but unable to stop him.

“I’m sorry, little one,” his voice whispered inside your mind, unmodulated by his vocoder, and when you finally opened your eyes, you were inside a ship, alone in the wilderness of the jungle, your own evidence that someone was there with you gone in the form of the cape that was missing and your mind set on one thing— get out of this place and get to Cyrkon.

When you finally took off and cleared the atmosphere of the moon, you briefly looked over the expanse of the space around you, noting with dismissed disappointment that you were indeed alone. You had forgotten all about Vader and your week spent with him alone, only remembering bits and pieces of your time spent on the moon, your memories altered. Vader’s Star Destroyer was long gone by the time you plugged the coordinates into hyperspace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not the end! Don't you worry, the story will continue :) I'm sorry I gave a few of you a mild heart attack.


	10. Mission Gone Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Vader in this one... sorry :(  
> On the other hand this chapter is a little dark and different compared to the first few chapters. I'm setting the next part of the story up so please be patient :)   
> Just heads up for some violence. Enjoy ~

“Does everyone have their positions?” a male’s voice spoke over the transmission through the speaker.

“Yes, sir. Everything is in order.”

“Good. Prepare for the signal,” the transmission ended and everything was basked in tense silence. 

You looked over your shoulder to spot the leader of the ground resistance, him quietly conversing with another soldier as they went over the last details of this plan. You could tell everyone was thinking of the same thing. That if this mission were to fail, most likely everyone on the underground resistance present on Eriadu would be wiped out. 

This was a tricky mission to begin with— the fact that there was a thick presence of the Imperial garrison was one thing. The other was that Eriadu was the homeworld of none other than Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin himself, who in fact was your current mission to begin with. Ever since several of the resistances signed the Corellian Treaty, the group on Eriadu became a formal part of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The order to attack Grand Moff Tarkin’s personal shuttle on his way back to Eriadu came directly from the central hub of a Rebel Alliance. 

The group was split into two parts— one aerial and one ground. If the aerial group succeeded in striking down Tarkin’s shuttle in an attempt to assassinate him then the ground role would be to ensure the Imperial presence had a hard time tracking down the rest of the resistance by eliminating the main administration present in the capital of the city. The Empire would have been hit from both sides— a heavy blow which the Rebel Alliance was too eager to prove to start the Galactic Civil War. You had no say on the matter, and neither did the rest of the resistance fighters present by your side. You were just a rebel after all— you signed up for this mission yourself. 

“The signal,” someone shouted and you quickly dispersed your thoughts to look up at the command center, noticing with trepidation the look on the General’s face. You had a growing pit in your stomach by the second as you realized what had happened. This wasn’t a signal you all hoped for— the direct link with the aerial team vanished and seconds later someone on the other end announced that the attempt to assassinate Tarkin had failed. The whole resistance up above was wiped out by the Imperial fighters.

“ _ Karking hell _ ,” someone cursed next to you. “We're all doomed.”

“We still have our orders,” the General announced and you tensed. “We must wipe out the administration. Prepare yourselves.”

“But sir,” you spoke up without any thought and all eyes were on you. You swallowed. “That order was given  _ if _ the attempt on Tarkin’s life succeeded. By now the whole Empire is aware of what happened, we would be lucky if we were to leave alive if we were to leave  _ now _ .”

“Are you questioning my orders?” the General snarled.

“I’m merely stating what others are thinking,” you quickly glanced around yourself to notice the looks of dread on their faces. 

“And what is that?” the General stalked up to you.

“That this is a suicidal mission,” you quickly spoke. “Even if we manage to get through the capital’s sector and ambush the administrative building, our hopes of survival would plummet as soon as the Imperial garrison spots us. There would be a blockade above Eriadu within an hour if not less. Tarkin won’t let us through— he will ensure the resistance is wiped out with any means necessary.”

“You knew the risks when you signed up for the mission,  _ soldier _ ,” the General barked. “You all knew it,” he looked up to sweep his gaze across all the faces gathered in the room. “Even if we failed to kill Tarkin we can still deliver a massive blow to his pride and his Empire. They would never expect us to attack the capital. We must show them the strength of the Rebellion.”

You didn’t like this idea at all and it showed on your face. The General was going out of his way to ensure some sort of victory in this failed mission. He was willing to risk countless lives to deliver a message to the Empire. You knew more than anything that the High Command would not be happy with this decision. They were willing to go through some risky operations but always ensuring there was a way out for the fighters. There was no point losing many lives over something that wouldn’t matter in the slightest in the long run. Attacking the administration now when the Empire was already aware of the attempt was pointless. The Imperial troops were more than likely already alerted and had assumed their positions to welcome Tarkin back home. And they would ensure that all air traffic was seized immediately, not allowing any straships in and out of the system. Eriadu would be swarmed with the Imperial warships and thousands of Imperial troops within an hour. 

“Get to your positions,” the General snapped at you. “Move out at my command.”

You bit your lip to prevent yourself from shouting out. You were in no position to question the orders of your superior. Even if such orders were wrong. Even if it meant you would all die.

___

You were distinctly aware of the explosion somewhere up ahead, your eyes stinging with sweat and blood. Somehow the resistance managed to break through the first wave of the Imperial garrison, moving swiftly towards the mark. Your side already lost a lot of men— more were being shot at every turn, diminishing resistance numbers at an exponential rate. You hoped the explosion was caused by your side, that you managed to deliver the blow after all. Your hope turned to dread as soon as your eyes landed on the scene up ahead. 

The building housing the administration looked more like a palace than anything else. And it was surrounded by countless Imperial troopers, more of them piling in from the transports as they disembarked from all directions across the city. You could make out several of the Star Destroyers in the atmosphere, looming dangerously in the sky as a reminder that this attempt was futile. 

“Keep moving,” someone shouted. Your legs refused to move. Your blaster was also low on charge and you cursed. There was no way out of this mess.

“He’s sending us to a slaughterhouse,” someone collapsed next to you and you looked to the side to see the same man that declared you were all doomed only some hours prior. “Mothma wouldn’t agree with this.”

“I know,” you replied, your voice hoarse. “The General is feeding his own agenda.”

“To what purpose,” the man snorted. “To let us all die?”

“To make a point,” you were looking up ahead, trying to find a way to get past the barricade. 

“I should have spoken up,” the man continued. “You know you were right—” you weren’t listening to him, your eyes focused on the side of the building, away from all the commotion next to the blown up Recon transport. 

“Hey, where are you going?” the man hissed when you suddenly moved. He instantly followed after you, mimicking your steps as you stealthily moved from building to building, managing to avoid the detection of the troopers and droids alike. It seemed all their concentration was focused at the frontlines of the battle raging off to the side. 

“Hey—”

“There,” you stopped and pointed to the spot you noticed earlier. “If we can get through, we can get inside,” you were pointing to the hole in the wall caused by the explosion. 

“Are you insane?” the man hissed.

“That’s our only choice,” you looked at him. “Either we die out here in the open being shot down or we actually manage to infiltrate the building and see how far it gets us before we are killed.”

“We’ll be shot in an instant,” the man argued.

You sighed, your body was screaming in protest for some rest. “The General was right about one thing. We all signed up for this mission voluntarily. No one made us do this. So if I’m to die, I want it to be on  _ my _ terms. Not his.”

The man looked at you, perhaps sizing you up. “Name’s Cran,” he finally spoke, extending his hand and you grasped it, relaying him your own name. “Alright then. Let’s see how far we can get.”

You nodded your head. If you were lucky and you managed to cross the fire to get to the building, you hoped that most of the Imperial presence was on the outside, guarding the main entrance to the building. You also needed a new weapon— and when chance presented itself you grabbed one off the dead trooper’s body as you crouched next to the blown up transport, all the while looking for any possible snipers or droids waiting at the top of the building. With all the smoke and the orange atmosphere of the planet caused by all the industrial smog, your chances proved to be much higher than you initially thought. You were hidden in plain sight and you seized the opportunity to run to the wall with Cran behind you, before you both disappeared into the hole and out of sight.

“Can’t believe this actually worked,” Cran laughed and you shot him a glare, pointing with your head straight ahead. You weren’t out of the danger just yet, if anything it seemed your luck was running out the closer you approached the destination where you would install the bomb. There were troopers even inside and the only way to get by them was to shoot them. It didn’t give you much time to hit all the targets before one called for backup. You silently conversed with Cran, signaling for him to take his position. You had to work quickly before more showed up.

In a bizarre sort of trance you managed to take out all the troopers, running towards your destination with speed you were surprised you still had left. You knew where the communication center was, learned it by heart by looking at the map layout. You knew it would be around the corner to your left. You were barely breathing by the time you rounded the corner, stopping to check the hallway was clear second before you turned and then you were sprinting straight ahead, Cran behind you. 

You thought you were lucky. Thought you had a chance. A shout behind you— possibly Cran, and you turned just in time to be hit with a stun bolt, your vision darkening as you collapsed in front of the white armored boots. 

___

“These are the  _ scums _ ?”

“Yes, sir. The only ones who survived.”

Your head was throbbing and you felt nauseous. All you wanted was to lay down. Yet you were forced to kneel, forced to keep your head down, your arms shackled behind your back. When you regained consciousness you were no longer on Eriadu. You were cuffed and transported straight aboard Tarkin’s personal Star Destroyer. You were amidst a few who were captured and brought before Tarkin himself.

“Where’s their leader?” Tarkin calmly spoke, walking along the line, looking at each and every one of the survivors. 

“Dead, sir,” announced the trooper. 

“A pity,” Tarkin stopped a few feet away from you. “I was hoping to have a word with a fool who thought leading such pathetic resistance would accomplish anything at all.”

“What are your orders, sir?”

“This one seems to be on a brink of death,” Tarkin called out as he observed one of the resistance fighters bleeding to death on the polished floor of the ship. “No need to drag out the inevitable. Kill him.”

You almost hurled whatever was left in your stomach at the sound of a blaster bolt hitting its target and the heavy sound of a body hitting the floor. 

“The rest shall follow the same fate,” Tarkin continued as he started walking away, barely sparing the rest even a glance.

“ _ Coward _ ,” you didn’t mean to speak out loud but the word tumbled out of your mouth without you registering what you’ve said until it was too late.

Tarkin instantly halted his steps, turning around to find your blazing gaze on him. “What did you say?”

There was no point of return from this. “I said you’re a coward,” you spat. “Hiding behind  _ them _ to do your dirty deeds,” you tilted your head towards the troopers who had their blasters ready and trained on you and the rest of the resistance fighters, ready to shoot. 

“Ah,” Tarkin smiled, his lips thinning into an ugly stretch. “You mistake cowardness for mere boredom,” he started walking back towards you. “I’ve seen this far too many times,  _ rebel _ . I’ve killed just as many with my own hand. What’s a few more deaths to add to the count?”

“Wish I could say the same if we succeeded in killing  _ you _ ,” you seethed. “What’s one more  _ insignificant _ death added to the count of those the Rebellion killed?” 

“Sir?” one of the troopers questioned, holding the end of the blaster next to your head. 

Tarkin lifted his hand, signaling for the trooper to step down. He stopped right in front of you. “I see this one still has some fire left in her,” he brought his hand down and roughly grasped your chin with his fingers, lifting your face to him. You didn’t give him the satisfaction of flinching away, keeping your gaze steady and trained on him.

“I think I will find most pleasure in breaking you of all the ones I’ve already broken,” Tarkin murmured, his eyes roaming over your face. “You will tell me all of your secrets, everything the Rebellion has plotted against the Empire. Down to the last detail.”

You scoffed. “ _ Never _ .”

“Don’t be so sure,  _ little one _ ,” you gasped, trying to wrestle yourself out of his tight grasp. Another image flickered over your eyes, one you were unfamiliar with but felt like you ought to know it.  _ I’m sorry, little one.  _ Except it didn’t sound malicious coming from Tarkin’s lips. It sounded almost… regretful, sorrowful, apologetic. Black lenses looking down at you, gloved hands gently brushing over your temple. Your chest constricted with a painful wave washing over you. You didn’t remember where you’ve heard it— who told you those words. You  _ forgot _ . 

Tarkin had mistaken your panic for something else. “You must be one of  _ those _ ,” he sneered. For a moment your face blanched, fear seizing over you. How did he  _ know _ ? “Do you find it repulsive when I call you that?” he brought his face closer to yours. “ _ Little one _ .”

You growled. “Don’t touch me,” you weren’t going to linger on the fact that you felt relieved that he still had no clue of what you were. You weren’t even going to think about what would happen shall he learn about you being an omega. 

“So I was right,” Tarkin smiled again. “That is your nickname, isn’t it? Someone back at your Rebellion had bestowed it upon you— your lover perhaps?”

_ I told you I’d take care of you, little one.  _

You were trembling now, all your fear evaporated and replaced with a confusion and feeling of dread washing over you. Why did your mind keep filtering the unknown memories inside your head? Those did not belong to you. 

“I think you’ll find yourself quite eager to return to your lover,” Tarkin continued, snapping your attention back to him. “If you tell me everything I need to know.”

“ _ Screw you _ ,” you hissed and then spat in his face. You instantly found yourself sprawled on the ground, your lip split as blood trickled down your chin and on the polished ground.

“Leave these three for the interrogation,” Tarkin spoke above you, gesturing with his head towards the three men cuffed next to you, one of them being Cran. “As for this one,” he placed his boot on your head, stomping on it and making you cry out from pain. “Bring her to a special chamber— I’d like to have a personal discussion with her. Kill the rest.”


	11. Unlucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be advised of the warning in the tags: torture, dark themes, humiliation, drug usage, physical abuse.

“The new advancements in technology made it possible for us to obtain the best methods for acquiring the needed information,” Tarkin started as soon as he entered the room with the buzzing sound of an interrogation droid behind him. “Should you choose to not cooperate with us, I’m afraid we would be forced to use it on you.”

“I suppose that’s your fancy way of saying you’re going to torture me?” you glared at the man as you were strapped to the torture chair keeping you semi-upright and your limbs locked with the metal cuffs. 

“Only if you fail to answer my questions,” Tarkin replied as he stopped by your side, looking down at you. The angle made his already hollow cheeks look even more pronounced.

“There is nothing I can give you that you don’t already know,” you figured that if anything, claiming that you didn’t know anything past the common knowledge about the Rebellion would grant you a swifter death. 

“I beg to differ,” Tarkin replied. “I think you might possess the knowledge of  _ something _ the Emperor would deem important to snuff out the rest of your feeble Rebellion once and for all. Beginning with the location of your base. I have all the confidence that you know the  _ exact _ location of it. Now— tell me.”

You tensed your jaw, clenching your teeth as you gazed at the man from your awkward position. There was no way you were telling him anything at all. Your eyes conveyed your stubbornness as Tarkin motioned for the droid to hover closer to you. 

“I will warn you the methods  _ I _ use are less than pleasant,” he informed you. “Whatever you’ve heard about the Empire, you can disregard them. You’re in  _ my _ custody, on  _ my _ ship. And I won’t hold back. I hold no sympathy for the terrorists that wish to disrupt the order the Emperor had set over the galaxy.”

“ _ Order _ ?” you hissed. “How much is the Emperor paying you to spew that shit?”

The icy glare in Tarkin’s eyes told you your words had irked the man. “Watch yourself, girl.” 

“There’s no order,” you continued, undeterred by the promise of pain. “Unless you consider military presence on every planet that opposes the absolute tyranny of one man an order, you’re mistaken. There’s only  _ violence _ . Violence that is hidden by false facade with glorified images of the galaxy that was left in ruins.”

“That is  _ enough _ ,” Tarkin announced and without any sort of preamble or a warning, had plunged something in your arm, right inside the vein, until you realized that he was injecting you with a substance from the small cylinder held between his fingers. “A truth serum,” he sneered when he saw the look on your face. “At least that’s what I like to call it.”

You winced but refrained from screaming out. You were so preoccupied with what Tarkin was doing to you that you didn’t notice the droid next to your other side until you were being injected with something else in your other arm. You cried out this time, out of sheer surprise.

“Let’s see how well these two drugs work together,” Tarkin smiled and stepped aside, watching as you squirmed against the restraints holding you tight to the chair. You felt a weird sensation washing over your body, a prickling starting at the injection site and spreading through. You gasped when you felt the first sign that something was wrong— a sort of flash of heat going through your entire body. 

“Feeling comfortable?” he asked with a sarcastic voice, as he continued to watch you try to wrestle yourself out of the restraints digging into your exposed skin. You were long stripped of your outer clothing, left with barely any garments that covered only a portion of your body. The cold seeping into your skin both from the freezing temperature in the room and from the metal chair made your skin break out in goosebumps, your thin shirt unable to cover the stiff peaks of your breasts through the material of your shirt. You felt humiliated and flushed with anger as more heat continued to run through your body.

“What did you do to me?” you growled. 

“Nothing that is unusual,” Tarkin smiled as he watched your body. “A mere drug that lowers your pain threshold along with  _ other _ side-effects, and of course the truth serum,” you didn’t like the sound of the  _ other _ part. “I suppose I should mention that I’ve never mixed those drugs before.”

You grunted, feeling more heat shooting through your body. It almost felt like someone was bathing you in hot water, only increasing the temperature with every breath. It felt like your insides were on fire.

“Are you ready to cooperate now?” Tarkin asked after a while, after he ensured enough time had passed for both drugs to take effect. You simply growled, shooting him a deadly glare. “I take it as a ‘no’,” he shrugged, seemingly unbothered in the slightest that you were being stubborn. You understood why shortly after. The bastard wasn’t done injecting you with the drugs. Soon, the droid was injecting more of the substance in your body, and this time you screamed.

“A pain-enhancing drug,” Tarkin supplied as though he was giving you a course on the drugs and not outright torturing you with them. By that point even the slightest movement brought you extreme pain. But you couldn’t deny another sensation creeping through your body. Your heart rate increased and you could feel your blood pulsing in your ears. You felt sickened considering what was happening to you— because you couldn’t hide the fact that the insides of your thighs were slicked with wetness— one you hoped you would be able to hide from Tarkin’s perceptive gaze periodically raking over your body. You weren’t sure if it was because you were already a day without your suppressants or if the drugs had something to do with the state your body was in. It was outright humiliating. 

“Shall we start then?” Tarkin’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts and you glanced up to see him looming over you. “Where is the location of your rebel base?”

You shot him a scalding glare. “Kriff off,” and were immediately rewarded with another harsh slap against your cheek, which sent your whole nervous system ablaze and you screamed, fighting the pain in your body. 

“Wrong answer,” Tarkin’s hot breath was mere inches from your face. “Shall we try again? Or would you like another dose of the drug?”

You were breathing heavily, your eyes trained on the droid hovering next to you with another needle ready to be injected in your skin. You wondered at what point it would be too much and your body would either go into shock, you lose your consciousness or even better, you die. 

“Don’t concern yourself,” Tarkin sneered, perhaps realizing what you were thinking. “I will ensure you will stay awake during the duration of our session. These sensors here will relay all the needed information for you to be cognitive and awake even if your system is shutting down,” he gestured to the controls in front of the torture chair you were strapped in. You whined. You were given more of the drug.

“Your Generals are fools for sending you to try and kill me,” Tarkin started after you calmed down enough to listen to him. “They failed, yet you are the one to pay the price for their foolishness and eagerness to prove themselves. Do you think they care about what happened to any of you? Do you think they will send a rescue group to try and save you? I think not.”

The harsh lights up above were starting to hurt your eyes and you blinked your tears away only to find Tarkin’s face in your full view. 

“You are even more of the fools to try and attack me on my own home world,” at that Tarkin grabbed a hold of your arm and  _ squeezed _ , and you let out a harsh scream. The mere touch made it feel like he was tearing your whole skin away. “You will pay for your failure, and you will pay for the deaths of Imperial soldiers, all in the name of your Rebellion.”

You were sobbing, trying to hold whimpers and gasps by biting on your lip. Tarkin was relentless in his hold on your arm, his fingers keep digging in and eliciting sharp stabbing pains throughout your whole body. 

“So why defend them?” his breath was once more in your face. “Why try to save them when they’ve done nothing in return? Why don’t you tell me the location of your base?”

You closed your eyes. You were oh-so-tired. Even unconsciousness felt like a bliss at the moment. The sensors beeped. You were only mildly aware of the noise they were emitting. They must have signaled that your body was on the verge of passing out. Tarkin barked some orders— more stabbing pain in your arm, perhaps another drug injected in your system. You instantly felt marginally better and you cursed. 

“And what of your lover?” your eyes snapped open and you gasped. Tarkin was sneering, that gleeful glare in his cold eyes. “Don’t you want to go back to him? I can assure you if you tell me what I’m asking, I will allow you to go back to him,” he was lying of course. You knew he was. But something in his words made you feel nostalgic, made you earn for someone. The image of the black lenses filtered over your eyes. You didn’t even have a lover. You haven’t even slept with anyone— no, wait,  _ that _ was a lie. Something had changed when you returned from your mission. You didn’t remember what, it was like part of your memory was wiped out. But you could clearly tell you were no longer as chaste as you thought you were. You weren’t taking a chance having sex with anyone, hiding your physiology behind false pretense that you were not interested, that you were too busy living the life of a rebel. So why did your mind keep drifting to the image of those lenses looking down at you. Who  _ was _ that man?

“... _ little one _ ,” your body jerked and you sucked in a mouthful of air. Tarkin must have continued talking but you tuned him out until those last words. Another memory flickered inside your mind.

_ So good for me, little one.  _

You whined again, but now out of sheer arousal spreading over your body. You were absolutely mortified but you couldn’t stop it, couldn’t help how your body reacted to those words. Tarkin noticed the change, his brows creasing as he watched you, trying to figure out your odd reaction. Until he glanced down. Your cheeks burned— you were soaked between your thighs. 

“My, my,” he drawled and then sneered, his eyes flickering back up to meet your panicked gaze. “And here I thought you were a prude. I can see now I was entirely wrong about you.”

You wished more than ever that you were already dead. This sort of humiliation was worse than anything you’ve ever encountered in your entire life. 

“Do you easily get off by me calling you  _ little one _ ,” he sneered and you jerked again, confirming his words with a hoarse moan leaving your lips. “ _ Pathetic _ ,” he scoffed. “You’re soaking the chair with your fluids. Perhaps I shall make you clean it up.”

_ You’re so fucking wet. Is this all for me, little one?  _

“No,  _ no _ ,” you were moaning, thrashing your head, tears freely falling down your cheeks. You wanted nothing more than to clamp down on the flickering memories that you had no recollection of. 

“Or perhaps you  _ like _ being tortured,” Tarkin continued. “Perhaps this is your perverted fantasy? I must say, I’m surprised by your reaction to these drugs. I have never seen anything quite like  _ that _ before.”

You registered his words and your heart sank somewhere in the pit of your stomach. Perhaps your reaction had everything to do with you being an omega. How many of your kind had he tortured or killed before? Perhaps none, perhaps that’s why your reaction was so amusing to him. Until he learned the truth. Because at some point sooner than later he would learn of it if he hadn’t killed you by then. Without your suppressants your heat would surely come soon enough. 

“Well then,” he continued in that condescending tone. “Are you planning to cum?”

Your body jerked again. Maker, this was… downright mortifying. Your chest was rising and falling with rapid movements, your stiffened peaks rubbing against the material of your shirt. Every small movement was sending waves of pleasure and pain down your body. You moaned again, hating yourself for it. 

_ You want to cum  _ again _ , little one?  _

There it was  _ again _ . The memories kept pouring from somewhere deep within your mind. You shamelessly moaned, gushing even more slick down your legs. Tarkin was just standing there, watching. You even considered begging him to relieve you of the pressure building up between your legs. Anything at all— even if it was a tip of the syringe, anything that could be used to flick at your swollen clit to make you cum. You were desperate, far too gone to care to feel humiliated. 

“ _ Please _ ,” you finally gasped with a broken voice. 

“Are you ready to tell me the location of your base?” he calmly replied back and you cursed.

“I don’t— I have no idea—” you were sobbing. “Please, I just need—”

“If you won’t tell me, I can’t help you,” how could he be so damn calm? You hated him but you hated even more that you couldn’t touch yourself. It was almost as bad as being in the heat. 

“I don’t know where it is,” you sobbed. “I was on Eriadu when the mission was given to us—”

“Now, that’s a lie,” Tarkin interrupted you. “One of your… comrades was quite talkative after the first injection,” your breath hitched and you stared at him with wide eyes. “He told us you arrived on Eriadu shortly after your High Command had given you the details of the mission. What he couldn’t tell us, unfortunately, was the location of the base before he…  _ passed _ away.”

You shook your head. “I don’t know, I swear.”

“Pity,” he remarked, casting you an irritated glance. “I suppose we can resume this discussion after you had some time to think over my terms,” your head was buzzing— what  _ terms _ ? 

“Keep her in this state,” he gave the command to the droid and for a moment you were disoriented by it until you realized what Tarkin was intending to do.

“No,  _ please— _ ” you choked back a sob. 

“If pain won’t motivate you, then perhaps lack of orgasm would,” you would have flushed at his choice of words if you weren’t already flushed enough. “I will keep you on the brink of your release, over and over again, until you are ready to tell me everything I need to know,” he sneered in your face. “And perhaps I would allow you to cum once you satisfy my own needs. Before your death, of course. But then— it might be a far-fetched possibility to even grant you that release after everything your Rebellion had done. That would be your true torture,  _ little one _ .”

He left you sobbing and crying, your body ablaze and throbbing from unmet release, the droid hovering above you, ensuring it kept you in this state until Tarkin came back. It would be hours, perhaps days before he returned. Your whole existence focused on the spot between your legs, pulsing and still gushing with fluids long after Tarkin was gone. Even thirst and hunger couldn’t compare to the absolute torture of being suspended on the brink of your release. And you weren’t even allowed an ounce of sleep, depriving you even of that by injecting you with more drugs to keep you sedated enough to be lucid. You were in hell. 

___

You lost track of time. Tarkin had come back as promised several times in the last few days (or maybe weeks?) to interrogate you with the same methods. He would usually become frustrated with the lack of progress, pushing your body to limits, leaving you a soaking mess by the time he was done— all without having to touch you. You were stripped of the rest of the clothing, having no need for it as you were cleaned and bathed in between the sessions by another droid in the position of being strapped to the chair. You even had to resolve yourself to relieve yourself there as well, adding to the humiliation of being so thoroughly degraded. At some point you were finally moved into another cell, no longer needing to be strapped to the chair. You were far too exhausted to try and move, usually just laying on the metal bed, still being fully pumped by the drugs. You were so out of it, your mind clouded with both the drugs and sleepless nights, that you failed to notice the tell-tell signs that your body was preparing to go into the heat until one day Tarkin announced the thing you feared the most ever since being captured.

“It has come to my attention that you’re not merely just a Human,” he started as he towered over you while you managed to prop yourself to a sitting position in your small cell. “ _ You _ are also an abomination of this world— an  _ omega _ ,” he said the last word with disgust. You simply stared at him, too exhausted to speak or do anything that would require you to move even the smallest muscle in your body. Everything just  _ hurt _ . 

“You must have been either lucky or very unlucky to not be killed with the rest of your family,” he continued as he stared down at you. Tarkin must have found your file, traced it by your blood work through the Imperial files to locate your dead family and subsequently you with your secret. It was only a matter of time before he did so. 

“Unlucky because you managed to survive while the rest of your  _ kind _ perished in that siege. Lucky, because for  _ me _ , you seem to be nearing your heat,” you breathing hitched as he continued. “And do you know what happens to an omega while they’re in heat?” he neared your face. “They become  _ animals _ . They whine and they beg to be fucked and rutted like some dogs. And you would be no exception to that rule.”

You opened and closed your mouth like a gaping fish. Except no sound left your lips— your throat was far too dry and raw from all the screaming and your lips parched and chapped and bruised from all the biting. 

“The only reason you’re still alive is because I’m waiting for that moment when you beg one of my men to fuck you,” he spat in your face. “You omegas become senseless when you’re in heat. Only want to be bred and knotted to satisfy your raw needs. Except you won’t be given that privilege until you tell us the location of your rebel base.”

You softly cried, unable to produce the thick tears since you’ve exhausted your supply over the time of being Tarkin’s prisoner. You thought the rumors were wrong about the Empire’s methods of torture. And perhaps they were, to some extent. Except Tarkin was different— he even told you so himself. He was a monster through and through. 

“I will be personally present during the duration of your heat,” he announced and you paled, fear and horror displayed on your face. “I have yet to witness the act myself— I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if there’s no alpha nearby. As long as you have something stuck inside your dripping cunt, you animals will be satisfied with either of the options.”

“ _ Please _ ,” you croaked. “Just kill me.”

“That I cannot allow,” he sneered. “You will finally tell me everything once you break down and in the middle of your heat. I can guarantee that. Until then, you will be subdued and treated like the animal you are. And when animals misbehave, they must be beaten. That’s the only way they learn.”

He signaled for the stormtroopers to enter the small cell. Your heart lurched in your chest. You couldn’t defend yourself even if you tried.

“Please,” you tried again. “I don’t know anything—”

“Don’t kill her,” Tarkin warned as he stepped away, ready to leave you alone with three men. He didn’t specify the orders and you could only guess what they were about to do. You could feel it in the air, the raw want for a woman, one naked and defenseless and pretty like yourself. You sobbed again, louder this time. Only to be interrupted by the comm signal on Tarkin’s wrist.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Grand Moff, but Lord Vader is requesting to speak with you immediately,” someone on the other end spoke and you tensed, not because of the fear the name of Darth Vader invoked within you but because of something  _ else _ . You couldn’t pinpoint what that feeling was.

“Did he say the reason for such an abrupt request?” Tarkin was outside the doors but you could clearly hear him. 

“He had received the news that you captured the rebels responsible for the attack on Eriadu. He is requesting the transfer of the prisoners aboard his own ship for further interrogation.”

“I must decline his offer—” Tarkin started but the doors shut before you could hear the rest and then you were scrambling to get away from the approaching stormtroopers, all to no avail as one of them grabbed a hold of your arms and pinned them above your head as he yanked you to your feet and slammed you against the wall. 

“Pretty little thing,” one of them spoke through their helmets, all their eyes roaming over you. You winced, trying to pry yourself out of their tight grip.

“Did you hear she’s an omega?” another one spoke. “Never seen one before.”

“Looks just like any other woman to me,” the third replied. “Unless she feels different on the  _ inside _ .” 

They laughed and you cried. If this was your fate, you wanted nothing to do with this. You wanted to die. One of them reached for your breast, and you tensed, prepared to scream. The touch never came.

“Leave her be,” Tarkin’s voice snapped the men to their attention and they promptly let go of you as you collapsed to the floor from sheer exhaustion. “It appears Lord Vader will be gracing us with his presence,” by the sound of Tarkin’s voice, he did not sound pleased at all. “We must ensure the prisoner is  _ unharmed _ until he arrives. She’s the only one left out of the four.”

Your eyes widened. This was news to you. That meant even Cran, the man you met back on Eriadu, was killed as well. 

“You are unlucky after all, girl,” Tarkin spat as the troopers left you be, leaving you all alone with Tarkin again. “You’d think me merciful once Vader is done with you. There are no secrets you can hide from him. And he will certainly dispose of you in the proper manner once he learns that you’re an omega. Mark my words.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are different ways the Empire liked to torture people. And their ways were beyond anything that would be considered appropriate or justified. Because torture by itself isn't. And yes, sexual torture was one of the methods (except she wasn't touched). Drug usage was another popular method. This isn't a pretty story. This has a plot. And I wanted to be as explicit as possible to convey just how fucked up the Empire is. 
> 
> Vader is finally arriving next chapter :)


	12. Unexpected Find

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much comment for this chapter except that I hope you enjoy it ~

The first thing Vader noticed when his shuttle finally docked on the _Executrix_ and he stepped out onto the platform to be greeted by Tarkin was the _smell_ . It was sweet, mixed with another smell he was all too familiar with— blood, and it was oddly familiar, reminding him once more of the time spent with the omega on the moon several months back. He almost groaned out loud— this wasn’t the time nor the place to be thinking of _her_. He was most certain he would never see the girl again, nor was he planning on ever tracking her down. That week alone with her was a haze in his own mind, a weakness he tried to forget while he was in presence of others, only letting his mind wander to things he could have had once he was alone in his private quarters. He shrugged off the weird sensation, contributing it to the fact he hadn’t slept, willing himself to forget about the girl until he stopped right in front of Tarkin.

“Lord Vader,” Tarkin started, a hint of aggravation in the man’s tone. “I can assure you your presence here is unnecessary. The rebels responsible for the attack on _my_ home world are my responsibility and I’m handling it the way I deem necessary to extract all the information they possess.” 

It took a moment for Vader to register Tarkin’s words, his mind preoccupied with other things. Mainly the smell— because standing up close to Tarkin he could no longer imagine it, he could actually smell it. It was strong and it lingered all over Tarkin’s clothes, as though the man bathed in it. It was disorienting as it was concerning.

“The Emperor has grown tired of waiting,” he finally responded, his mask tilted down to stare at the man in front of him. “Your methods have seemed to kill three of the rebels you captured, while you ordered for the rest to be executed on the spot. Yet you still have no answers as to the location of their base.”

Tarkin bristled, hated to be talked down by someone who barely held no status in the ranks of the Imperial military. Even if such a man was second to the power next to the Emperor. 

“I can assure you, the last rebel holds the promise of giving me such information,” Tarkin sneered. “She has been reluctant up to this point, but with the right method and with the revelation of her… _status_ , she will be more than willing to tell me everything.”

The Force was turbulent and Vader stiffened. “She?”

Tarkin smiled again. “A rarity of her kind. An omega. And one that is close to her heat.”

It hit him before he could fully process Tarkin’s words. The Force’s warning, the reason he contacted Tarkin in the first place as though something was out of place, knowing that the man was right and that Tarkin could fully handle the mere handful of the rebels. Even if the Emperor was growing restless with the Rebellion’s growth, it had nothing to do with Vader’s abrupt visit to Tarkin’s personal flagship. Maybe the Force was wrong, maybe it was another omega (but how many of them were there and the chance that she was another one of the rebels?). He suddenly felt lightheaded.

“Have you interrogated her?” he heard himself ask. It was a pointless question to ask because he already knew the answer to that and by the look on Tarkin’s face, it confirmed what he already knew to be the truth.

“Of course,” Tarkin finally gestured for Vader to follow him to the interrogation levels of the ship. “It seems the methods of drug use work differently on her kind,” he continued, unaware of what was going on inside Vader’s own mind. It took all of Vader’s willpower to continue walking. And the closer he got to the location of the omega, the more his fears grew because he could no longer deny _who_ Tarkin held as his prisoner. The smell here was even stronger, it permeated the whole place. It reeked of fear, pain, and most notably— a thick scent of unmet release. Vader had to stifle another groan, his body responding to the silent cry of the omega for help. The Force wasn’t helping either— he could _feel_ her and he could see her fragile mind. 

“She seems to be most receptive to her _carnal_ needs,” Tarkin sneered again. “She’s a desperate little thing. I had been denying her the pleasures until she answered my questions. But she’s been quite stubborn.”

If Tarkin was any other man, he would have been dead in seconds. But he wasn’t— in fact, Tarkin was one of the favorites of the Emperor, a cunning man with an evilness that rivaled that of the Emperor himself. He was a prominent figure in the Imperial military, and one respected and feared just as much as Vader. And Vader could not kill him, no matter how much he wanted to right at that moment. 

“Her heat is fastly approaching,” Tarkin continued, unaware of the hidden deadly glare from Vader as the latter followed the man. “She will be more than eager to share with us the secrets of her Rebellion once she’s fully submerged in her primal needs. It is only a matter of time—”

“Unless I pry that information out of her head before it comes to that,” Vader snapped until he realized what it must have sounded like to Tarkin as the man turned and gave him a questioning look. “There is no need to resolve to these uncultured methods,” he hastily followed after his abrupt remark. 

“Ah,” Tarkin inclined his head. “I’ve forgotten you despise my methods of interrogation,” the man smiled before stopping in front of the sealed door, behind which Vader knew was the omega. “Perhaps you’ll have more luck with her then. I will have one of the droids accompany you—”

“There won’t be a need for that,” Vader cut him off. “The only thing I require is your assurance that I won’t be bothered by your men, nor you for that matter,” he pointedly towered over Tarkin as a way to intimidate him with a silent threat of what would happen should he be interrupted. 

Tarkin scowled but instantly schooled his features into a blank expression. “As you wish,” he turned on his heels and left, leaving Vader in front of the doors with the stormtroopers positioned on either side of the cell. He gestured for them to leave and they did without questioning his intentions. He didn’t waste another second— he entered the cell after typing the security codes and stopped dead in his tracks when he laid his eyes on the omega curled up in the ball in the corner of the room, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees, hiding her indecency the best way that she could considering her position. Her face was pressed tightly against her knees, her matted hair falling over her head and her shoulders in knots and tangles, adding to her unkempt appearance. Not to mention the bruises and the scratches on her arms and legs, her whole body trembling from cold, fear and hunger. 

He had seen plenty of prisoners reduced down to such a state and he never cared enough about them as he continued interrogating them until they used up their usefulness and he killed them. But never quite like this— the mere thought that the omega was tortured and abused sent him into a murderous frenzy, his vision flashing red as he was rooted to the spot, clenching and unclenching his fists to level out his rage. He was only cognizant enough to ensure to crush all the hidden cameras with the Force before he was kneeling in front of the girl.

“Little one,” he spoke before he could stop himself, taking a notice of how the omega flinched from the use of his nickname for her. “Look at me,” he continued when she refused to acknowledge his presence or even lift her head. He resorted to touching her, barely even applying the pressure before she let out a muffled moan filled with pain. He instantly stopped, another surge of rage taking over him. She must have still been fully pumped with the pain-enhancing drugs. His eyes raked over the purple bruises on her arms where the droids injected her with needles. He was going to crush them all.

“Look at me,” he repeated again, this time using the Force to lift her head until her tear-filled eyes met the opaque lenses of his mask. She gasped but besides that one sound she remained still, watching him as he watched her. He could feel her fear, her shock at seeing him so close next to her, but along with that a sort of… curiosity, wonder. He frowned behind the mask— there was no way she should have remembered him at all. 

“You…” she croaked with a broken voice, her vocal cords damaged from what he presumed were hours of screaming. He instantly wanted to take her pain away, his inner alpha threatening to overtake his common sense. 

“You don’t need to fear me,” he started after a moment of silence. “I won’t hurt you.”

Doubt crossed her face and then, like a flip of a switch, her eyes widened and she let out another whimper, trying to scramble away from him only to realize she was trapped in the corner by him. Her face scrunched in sheer panic and she let out a sob, and he was assaulted with images of terror inside her own mind of what she presumed he would be doing to her. He felt revolted, but more than anything he felt desperate for her to not be afraid of him. He reached for her again, his fingers gently brushing the strands of her hair out of her face.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he repeated again, noticing how tense she was, her wide eyes boring into him. “But I can’t say the same thing for any other man on this ship, especially Tarkin,” he snarled the last part in disgust. She hardly reacted to his words, if anything it seemed his words had made her still, her breathing stopped. “I need to get you out of here,” he continued. “But I need you to trust me.”

Still she was silent, her eyes trained right on him as though she knew the exact location of his own eyes behind the dark lenses. He realized after a moment that she was too terrified to even speak, let alone do anything else. He sighed. This was going to be a problem if she couldn’t cooperate with him.

“We don’t have much time—”

“Was it you?” she finally asked with a hoarse voice, barely audible as she whispered the words. He was stunned momentarily, trying to figure out what she was asking until her thoughts slithered inside his own mind and he saw what she saw, flickering memories inside her head of the time spent on the moon. He was left speechless until he gathered his senses.

“Do you remember me?” he asked, still working through the initial shock that somehow the girl managed to remember bits and pieces. He was careful when altering her memories, she shouldn’t have remembered any of it yet here she was, recalling with clarity him, or rather bits of conversation when he told her he’d protect her. 

“I—” she frowned, confused and lost. She looked at him again, as though trying to decide if he matched the description of her memories and then she hesitantly nodded, unsure of what to believe in. He could work with that for now.

“Then trust me,” he repeated again. “I will get you off this ship but you must follow my orders. But you have to give me something to work with. Tarkin won’t let go until he has _something_.”

Her face fell as she realized what he was asking of her. “No,” she whispered. 

He knew she would still be stubborn even after everything she’d been through. He could have easily taken the information out of her head but there was a chance he could damage her already fragile state of mind.

“Little one,” he started again, his voice taking almost a scolding tone. “I need that location of your base. It’s all Tarkin wants.”

“You want it too,” she snapped, although it sounded more like a hoarse whisper than the scalding tone she could have used. “You’re trying to trick me—”

“No tricks,” he was desperate for her to understand. “All I want is to get you out of here.”

“You can just kill me,” she closed her eyes, a defiant spark in her tone. He gritted his teeth.

“I won’t kill you,” he tried again. “I _can’t_.” 

She opened her eyes, pain and exhaustion evident in her gaze. “Whatever you’re trying to do… it won’t work,” she took a shuddering breath. “I won’t tell you anything. So you might as well torture me more.”

He didn’t mean to growl, hadn’t meant to scare her away but he was starting to lose patience and her sheer defiance was adding to his already shaky state of mind. Not to mention the closeness of her body and her smell— he was fighting his instincts ever since he stepped into her cell. He would have already taken her if it wasn’t for the dire circumstances of the position she was in. The pressure in his codpiece was building and his cock throbbed. It was absolutely maddening what she was doing to him.

“Little one,” his voice was strangled and she reacted to it by gasping. He could feel the change in her body, could smell her arousal in the air. He groaned—Tarkin was right about one thing. Her body’s reaction to drugs was making her react in the most uncanny ways. It was proving to be difficult to ignore, especially with the approaching promise of her heat. His gaze flickered over her exposed body, grazing over the hidden spot between her thighs. “Do you need to cum?”

His question had shocked her speechless and she gaped at him. He shifted on his knees, bringing himself right between her tightly pressed legs. He didn’t touch her, didn’t want to cause her more pain. But he used the Force to nudge at her. 

“I need you to cum,” he announced. “I can’t… _think_ when your body is releasing that desperate scent.”

“ _What_?” she squeaked, completely appalled. 

“You’ve forgotten what I am,” he proceeded with using the Force to separate her knees and she let him, being completely stunned. “But I can smell your desire and pain behind the unmet release. You’ve wanted to cum for so long, didn’t you?”

She gasped again, looking at him with wide eyes as he finally exposed her center, her clit swollen and her folds soaked with her fluids. It was a sight he wished he could forget for months after he let her go. He was drawn to her like a moth to a fire and he couldn't stop. He licked his dry lips, feeling himself leaking at the sight of her body. 

“Do you mean…” she whispered, realization dawning on her. “Are you…”

“ _Yes_ ,” he hissed. “Do you understand now that I won’t harm you?”

“But… why can’t I _remember_?” she choked.

“Because I made it so,” he admitted. “When I get you out of here I will return your memories to you. But right now I need you to cum for me, little one,” he flicked her with the Force and her body responded, craving the touch as she arched her back, a hoarse moan leaving her lips.

“That’s it,” he praised as he watched her tremble before him. “Such a good little omega,” he continued applying pressure with the phantom touch of the Force and she caved under his expert ministrations, gushing more slick, her eyelids fluttering as she closed her eyes.

“ _Please_ ,” she cried out, trying to fight the impending orgasm. 

“Don’t fight me,” he growled. “I want you to cum.”

“I don’t need— _ah_ ,” she cried out. “You’re going to hurt me. When you stop— that’s what _he_ did,” she was gasping. 

“Don’t mention Tarkin while I’m doing this to you,” he snarled, jealousy and rage taking over him. He was going to make Tarkin suffer— later. Right now he needed to tend to his omega. “I won’t stop. You’re going to cum. And you’re going to do it _now_.”

She whined again, her thighs shaking as she approached her orgasm. He could feel she was close, on the edge of her release. 

“Alpha—” she choked, her body trembling. 

“Cum for me,” he ordered. “Cum for your alpha,” and so she did, screaming out as her overdue release finally took over her and she spasmed, making a mess on the floor as her slick gushed out of her folds. He wasn’t done with her just yet, building another orgasm soon after the first one and she wailed, thrashing in his hold.

“No— wait,” she begged. “I _can’t—_ ”

“There’s no other way to get the drug out of your system,” he gravelly intoned. “I can inject you with a reversal drug but that won’t do much for you. You have to work it out yourself. I’ll make you cum as much as you need to.”

She gasped and trained her eyes on him. “And you don’t consider this another method of torture?”

“I’m not that kind of a man, little one.”

“But you’re the kind that alters someone’s memories?” she spat, shooting him a scalding look. He was almost impressed that she could still fight with him even while he was subjecting her body to extreme pleasures.

“I had no choice—”

“Says someone who’s a coward,” she spat and he growled. “I want my memories back or I won’t go anywhere with you.”

“You’re in no position to give me demands,” he ground out.

“Then I’d rather die here than go anywhere with a man who claims I can trust while playing with my mind the way he seems it fit,” she spat back. 

He let out a string of curses at her stubbornness and used the Force to increase the pressure on her swollen clit to make her cry out, her body spasming. “I told you I’d return them to you once we leave—”

“It’s now or never,” she interrupted him with a haughty voice. He swore. She glared at him. They were at an impasse. 

“Then you’ll give me the location of your rebel base,” he snarled and before she could reply, he linked his mind with hers and unlocked her suppressed memories with an ease befitting someone who’d done it countless times before. She gasped again, overwhelmed with the knowledge of what transpired between the two of them and he used the opportunity to seek out the location of the base. He didn’t have to look for long— she had given in as easy as he expected her to. He rewarded her by subjecting her body to another powerful orgasm, her senses tingling and screaming with joy, washing over him like hot water and he almost cummed right there and then, barely suppressing his urges as he swallowed his groan. She was shivering and crying when her high finally evaporated, replaced with a sense of dread and another feeling he was all too familiar with.

“You _bastard_ ,” she hissed. “You tricked me!” there was hate in her eyes, as well as grief when she realized what he’d done.

“Dantooine,” he announced, raising himself to his full height. 

“ _I hate you_ ,” she snarled and he paused, looking down at her enraged face, feeling a string of something he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

“I just saved your life,” he intoned. “You won’t be returning to your Rebellion. In fact, I will ensure your memories will be erased of them before I send you back out into the world. There won’t be a repeat of what transpired here. You shall no longer consider yourself a rebel.”

“You can’t do that!” she screamed, trying and failing to raise herself on her feet. She was too exhausted from both repeated torture and two of her releases back to back, her limbs too heavy to listen to the commands of her brain. But he was already walking away, heading for the door. “No, _please_ ,” she cried. “Don’t do this.”

He disregarded her pleas. “Give a prisoner a set of clothes,” he barked his orders when he met the troopers on his way back to the command center of the ship, where he knew he’d meet with Tarkin. The man greeted him with an expected raise of his brow, and it took all of Vader’s willpower not to crush his face into the wall.

“Well?” Tarkin drawled.

“Dantooine,” Vader stopped a few feet away from Tarkin, holding onto his rage.

“Ah,” Tarkin smiled. “So it seems your efforts to interfere had worked in your favor after all,” he came up to Vader. “And what of the prisoner?”

“The rebel comes with me,” Vader intoned. 

“You have no use for her,” Tarkin questioned.

“Neither do you,” Vader snarled. “You may as well chase the rebels as you seem fit. My work here is done,” he was already turning, having no desire to spend any more time with the man unless his patience finally wore thin and he killed the man in his rage. The Emperor would not be pleased. 

“She has quite an appealing sight,” Tarkin smirked. “A trash through and through, but perhaps worthy enough to be tossed around in the barracks. My men would be more than pleased to have her.”

Vader stopped in his tracks. He recalled the recent memory he saw in the girl’s mind. He took a couple of breaths, letting his respirator fill the tense silence. 

“The men that guarded her cell. Bring them to me,” he replied before stalking away from Tarkin, fuming in his rage. He arrived just in time down to the hangar to see the girl being escorted into his own shuttle, her body covered by some sort of cover, decent enough to hide her state. He barely cast a glance her way, ignoring the way her gaze burned through him, trying not to lose his composure when he noticed her shackled and shoved inside the shuttle as though she were an animal. She could barely even stand let alone walk, yet she was forced to endure the pain he knew she was still in from the connection he shared with her mind. He kept telling himself it was all to maintain the pretense, a cover that he tried to paint as he stood still in front of the shuttle, counting his breaths and trying to get the girl out of his head just for a moment— enough to get them both out and away from Tarkin. 

“Lord Vader, sir,” he was snapped from his thoughts by a trooper’s voice. “You called for us?”

His gaze swept across the nondescript helmets of the troopers. He recognized the one in front of him from the girl’s memory. “Yes,” he intoned. “As a matter of fact, I have.”

The trooper hesitated when Vader refused to elaborate more. “Um, your orders, sir?” 

There was no reason to cause the scene in front of countless eyes of officers and troopers likewise gathered around him. He would have to resort to extract his revenge in private of his fortress when he arrived back on Mustafar. For now, let the troopers believe they were in good grace of his Lordship. 

“You are assigned to escort the prisoner to her new cell,” he gestured to the shuttle. He could feel the excitement radiating off the one in front of him. He almost snapped the man’s neck. _Patience_ , he reminded himself. 

“Yes, My Lord,” the troopers saluted the boarded the shuttle, and Vader right behind them. He would wait until the girl was safely inside the fortress before he decided to deal with the troopers that caused her distress, imaging them to be Tarkin as he punished and tortured them until their deaths. He would ensure to make them suffer just as she suffered, amplifying their pains and feeding to his rage and the Dark Side of the Force. 

“Set coordinates to Mustafar,” he ordered the crew piloting the shuttle as he stood with his hands behind his back, watching the shuttle’s take off. He didn’t want to think of the girl next door, of her raw feelings directed at him. Because if he thought long enough, all he could feel were her pains and her hate— hate directed at him. And he didn’t think he liked the fact that she could harbor such harsh feelings for him, even if they were justified and warranted for the actions he committed to keep her safe.


	13. Urgency

You were cold. The freezing temperatures from the cold vacuum of space right outside the shuttle were seeping into your skin as you were transported to what you presumed would be Vader’s own ship. The rag they had given you did nothing to keep you warm, if anything it only seemed to trap in more cold as you were forced to wait kneeling on the hard floor of the shuttle with stormtroopers on either side of you. You were trying to suppress your shivers, hoping that at any moment you would land. But there was no indication that you were anywhere near your destination. Your limbs ached, your body sore, painful bruises covering your skin. You could barely even keep yourself upright, and when you thought you’d pass out, you would be jerked awake by one of the troopers. 

Vader was nowhere in sight— you weren’t sure if you were relieved or terrified that he wasn’t here with you. You supposed you were relieved, only for a moment, until the bile would rise in your throat and you’d remember what happened back in that cell. How he tricked you, how he used you for his own gains. How easily you gave in and gave him the information without fighting while he coaxed orgasms out of your body. You hated him, but you hated yourself even more for betraying the Rebellion. You knew they were doomed, knew that Tarkin would keep his promise of eradicating them all. And there was nothing you could do, because you were still a prisoner. Even after Vader told you he did this to save you. Lies, all  _ lies _ . 

But the worst part were the memories. You couldn’t get them out of your head. Everything that happened between you and Vader on that forsaken moon. How much you wished he’d taken you in that cell, how much you craved his touch, his cock. You felt sickened for even thinking of such things but you couldn’t help yourself. You were nearing your heat, and once again Vader was with you just like the last time. Was it bound to happen again? Were you planning on letting him fuck you through your heat? You knew deep down that yes, you’d let him touch you. You’d let him pleasure you just because you were selfish, just because you were an omega and because you’d turn into a senseless thing once you were deep in your heat. Tarkin’s words resurfaced back in your mind and you cringed. He was right about one thing— you were like an animal. And you wouldn’t mind being treated like one— you’d beg Vader to rut with you just to satisfy your needs.

You had to bite your lip from moaning out loud, feeling a wet trail trailing down your inner thigh. You were still aroused, the drugs leaving your body and your senses with an after-effect. And it didn’t help that you would do anything to let Vader touch you again. No matter how much you hated him at the moment, no matter how much you were repulsed at yourself, no matter how weak and broken you felt, your thoughts were consumed with his phantom touch on your folds, playing with your clit like he did back in that cell. You were ashamed of yourself, feeling a deep sense of humiliation and hurt at being so incapacitated after days (or was it weeks?) of being tortured. You were so consumed with your self-loathing thoughts that you missed the signs of shuttle docking until you heard the sound of Vader’s respirator in the cabin.

“Bring her inside,” he ordered the two stormtroopers by your side. He barely even glanced your way, making you even more paranoid and confused when instead of expecting to see a large hangar bay of a Star Destroyer, you were met with dark scenery of obsidian metal and empty space. You weren’t on the ship— you were brought to some sort of fortress by the looks of the design. You couldn’t see outside but you could smell a whiff of  _ something _ burning in the air. You weren’t given a chance to look around as two sets of arms pushed you further inside. You could only distinctly hear Vader’s booming voice as he commanded for the rest of the stormtroopers to follow him. You instantly recognized the one in the middle— the one who almost touched you and tarnished your decency back in that cell. You briefly wondered why they came with you, why Vader allowed Tarkin’s men to be in your presence if he was so adamant he wanted to keep you safe. 

You had forgotten all about it when the troopers pushed you inside another cell and locked you there, leaving you alone with your thoughts, cold and miserable and hurt. You collapsed on the floor from exhaustion, tucking yourself in the ball like you did on Tarkin’s ship. You thought you might have finally passed out until you felt yourself being roused from deep sleep, your body being lifted from the ground. You groaned, fighting the sleepiness and trying to move away.

“Don’t,” you instantly tensed when you recognized Vader’s deep baritone of his voice above you. “I’m only moving you from this cell.”

You realized Vader was carrying you in his arms. You shifted again, trying to push him away. “Don’t touch me,” you meant it as a threat but instead it came out as a soft whine, your mind still sleepy and your voice groggy from being awakened. 

“You can’t walk on your own,” was his reply as he tightened his hold on you. “Allow me to take care of you, little one.”

That finally got the reaction out of you and you raised your head. “Oh, so  _ now _ you care?” you spat. “Was it  _ before _ or  _ after _ you rummaged through my mind?”

You heard what sounded like a sigh coming from Vader’s mask. “I did it to protect you,” he started. “I was in no position to do anything while we were on Tarkin’s ship. I warned you that I wouldn’t be able to protect you should the Empire capture you.”

Oh, so now he was making excuses. You bristled at that. “I would have  _ remembered _ that if you didn’t erase my memories,” you growled. 

He tilted his mask to look down at you. “Yes,” he responded. “I should have manipulated your mind to leave the Rebellion so that it never came down to that.”

You suddenly grew hot, anger flashing before your eyes. “You kriffing soulless bastard—” you started but was swiftly interrupted when Vader finally brought you inside what looked to be a room. It was spacious but bare, containing just the essential furniture to be bearable. At least it wasn’t another cell and it had a real bed. 

“Your room,” Vader answered your silent question as he carefully lowered you on the bed. “I will have the droids look over you. Your wounds need to be treated. And you need your rest.”

You were puzzled, surprise written on your face when Vader turned, ready to leave your presence. You called out despite your troubled feelings towards him. “You’re leaving?” why did your voice have to sound so meek?

He stopped but didn’t turn. “Yes,” his voice was clipped. “I must return back to my ship. The detour to this place had taken longer than I anticipated.”

His words pierced your heart. “You’re just going to leave me… here?” you asked, your voice taking a higher pitch like you were on the verge of a breakdown. “Where am I anyways?”

“Mustafar,” he replied. “This place is safe. There is no one here besides the droids. You’ll have plenty of time to recover.”

He was planning on leaving you for an indefinite amount of time. You raised yourself to a sitting position with tremendous effort, scrunching the sheets under your fingers. “When will you return?”

“I don’t know.”

You took a shuddering breath. “I’m nearing my heat,” what a stupid thing to say but you had to say it. Had he forgotten about it?

“I’m well aware,” his voice was emotionless, cold. “I will ensure your comfort during its duration. You can ask my droids for anything. They will serve your every whim.” 

You suddenly felt like crying. “Then why tease me with your touches?” your voice broke. “Why did you let me cum?” your cheeks were flushed but you had to understand his reasons.

“I told you,” his voice was clipped. “It was  _ distracting _ . I couldn’t think. Your mind was screaming for release so I gave you that reprieve.”

You stared at his back. “Do you… not want me?” you quietly asked. Why did asking him hurt you so much? He didn’t respond so you continued, despite your growing fear that your words were true. “Is that why you’re leaving? Because I’m just a nuisance to you? And why you erased my memories because you were certain we’d never meet again? So finding me there in that cell had tarnished your plans so you had to improvise and bring me here?” you were blabbering, words spilling past your lips. You were hurting, not just physically but emotionally too. “If you didn’t want me then why go through the trouble to ensure I’m kept safe? Why being  _ nice— _ ”

“I told you I’d take care of you,” he hissed. “What else do you want me to say?”

“So… you  _ don’t _ want me?”

He whirled around, his cape whooshing behind him. “I can’t be with you during each and every one of your heats,” he snarled and you shrunk from the viciousness in the tone of his voice. “I’m doing everything I can to ensure your safety. But I can’t give you anything more than that. I shouldn’t be here in the first place. You were right— I wasn’t expecting to find you there.”

You couldn’t find the words to reply to him. It was like something was stuck in your throat, a rock that scratched at your skin and made it impossible to talk. 

“I will check on you periodically through the droids. But I must return back to my ship,” he was turning again, heading for the door. 

“Alpha—” you called out with desperation, the word tumbling out of your mouth without you meaning to say it out loud.

“I’m not your alpha,” he cut you off with an icy tone and something in you  _ snapped _ . “And you’re not my omega,” he hesitated slightly by the door and you watched him, holding your own breath, expecting  _ something _ from him. He left without saying another word. 

You stayed rooted on the bed, watching the spot by the door, your mind blank. It was minutes, maybe hours, until the droids rolled in inside the room, beeping in binary for you to let them take a closer look at you. You let them. You let them undress you, let them bathe you, let them dress your wounds and feed you. By then you knew that Vader had already left. The last remnants of the drugs finally dissipated from your system. You collapsed on the bed when exhaustion finally took over you and you could no longer fight it. 

You slept. You woke. You were fed and dressed. Your dressings were changed. The droids were constantly at your side, day and night, just as Vader promised. You stayed in your room, staring blankly at another wall. Your mind constantly consumed with thoughts of recent events. You cried. You slept some more. Repeat. It was like your actions were on autopilot. 

The nightmares started shortly after. You screamed and cried. The droids did their best to soothe you. You couldn’t sleep after that. The days passed and you were nearing your heat. You didn’t care. You cried some more. You refused food, then you refused to get off the bed. The droids beeped, you didn’t listen. You wished to forget and so you willed yourself to do just that. You weren’t even cognizant of what you were doing but soon the blanket of darkness started taking over you. You curled in your spot, burying yourself deep into the blankets and pillows as you closed your eyes. There, that was better. You didn’t hurt anymore— you felt at peace. If you could just stay like that for a while. Yes, you thought you might as well. Nothing could hurt you now. No pain, no suffering, no nightmares. No Vader. 

___

The signal on his comlink came from Mustafar. Another one in the last hour. He disregarded it again, shutting it off as he continued listening to the reports of his Admiral. This was a meeting he had to attend regarding the recent attempt on attacking the rebel’s base on Dantooine. They were too late. By the time he was able to extract the information from the girl, the rebels had already relocated to another base. It took a lot of explanation on both his and Tarkin’s part to the Emperor. Palpatine was not pleased, redirecting his frustration on his apprentice. Vader was used to such methods but it didn’t mean he didn’t despise them. He gritted his teeth, quietly (or as quietly as he could) receiving his master’s punishment. Tarkin was gleeful. And he had to mention that girl. Which took more explaining on Vader’s part, finally able to convince the Emperor that the prisoner died. The comlink went off again. The Force shifted.

“My Lord?” Ozzel spoke, noticing the shift in Vader’s body. 

“Continue with the report,” Vader barked his orders, leaving the conference room. The call was insistent all the way until he reached his quarters. “What is it?” he snapped when he answered the call.

“Pardon the intrusion,” one of the droids beeped as a greeting. “I thought you should know about the patient,” it took Vader a cycle of his respirator to realize the droid was talking about the girl.

“I thought I made it clear to only contact me if there’s an emergency.”

“Precisely why I made the contact,” the droid replied. “There is something… wrong with the patient.”

The Force swirled again. Vader frowned behind his mask. “Clarify your definition of ‘wrong’,” he replied, keeping his composure.

“We cannot seem to wake her,” the droid replied. “She has been like that since yesterday morning.”

“What do you mean you can’t  _ wake _ her?” Vader hissed.

“She is not responsive,” the droid continued in haste. “And her vitals are dropping below normal. We moved her to a medical wing to keep her stable.”

He froze. “ _ What _ ?”

“She seemed fine two nights ago,” the droid continued as his explanation. “We didn’t think of anything last night, contributing her symptoms with the arrival of her heat.”

“She’s in heat?” he asked to confirm, his thoughts running wild. 

“It appears that way,” the droid confirmed. “But she won’t respond to any methods to rouse her. All her symptoms and her low vitals indicate that she’s going into… a comatose state.”

_ Shit _ . 

He’d only witnessed it a few times. Two, to be precise. He was present for one of them with his mother, watching her die in his arms. The other one… he wasn’t present. But he suspected that was what happened when the Emperor told him of Padme’s death after he was placed in his suit. He cursed, the Force swirling around, its tendrils extending and destroying everything in their paths from the eruption of his emotions. 

“Keep her alive,” he snarled, stalking out of his quarters and practically running down into the hangar, only giving his technicians a minute of notice for them to ready his ship.

“My Lord—” Ozzel commed him but Vader cut him off.

“The  _ Devastator _ is in your command until my return,” he didn’t wait for the full prep of his ship, he was already flipping the pre-flight switches, ready for take off. “If the Emperor requests my presence, inform me immediately. Otherwise, keep my departure from reaching unwanted ears,” he cut the call off without waiting for the Admiral’s response. He was already taking off, plugging in the coordinates to Mustafar before lurching the ship into hyperspace. It would take him at least a few hours to reach the destination. It just so happened he was on the other end of the Outer Rim and he cursed again. If she died… he stopped that thought before it could manifest into a sentence. He wouldn’t  _ let _ her. 

He spent the better half of the trip trying to meditate but failing miserably the closer he got to Mustafar. Only a few more minutes and he would exit the hyperspace. The droids didn’t contact him again. Perhaps it was a good sign, but the Force was still ringing with insistence that he could be too late. He almost broke the lever on the ship when he finally descended the ship into the planet’s atmosphere, flying straight to the landing platform of his fortress. He didn’t even shut off the engines when he jumped down and hastily made his way to the medical wing to be greeted with the droids.

“My Lord—”

“How is she?” he walked right past them into the room, his gaze falling onto the girl’s still form. Was it the light of the room or did she look more pale even through the red tint of his visor? 

“She is getting worse,” the droid informed. “We can’t seem to keep her vitals stable—”

He cursed again, stopping by her bed to feel her in the Force. He was right all along— she was slipping away, her mind closed off and her senses dulled. He had to act fast.

“Prepare my chamber,” he barked his orders as he picked the girl in his arms, frowning when she felt so much more lighter than the last time he’d picked her up. He swiftly carried her through the hallways, going straight for his chamber located deep within the fortress. It was a special room, blocked off with a special set of doors and mechanisms to prevent anyone’s unwanted intrusion. Only there he could take off his suit and feel like a  _ normal _ person. By the time the doors clicked shut, the room was already filling up with gases to allow him to breathe on his own without relying on his suit. He paid no mind to it— his focus on the omega in his arms as he laid her down on the spacious bed located in the center of the room.

“Little one,” he spoke, his voice catching as he knelt by her side. “Wake up.”

She was motionless, her eyes closed, laying like a statue on the bed, her chest only barely rising and falling, her pulse low.

“Wake  _ up _ ,” he tried again, this time using the Force to try and rouse her. Still, it did nothing, only increasing the urgency of the matter at hand. He ran his hands through her hair, softly tugging on it to tilt her head forward as he spoke. “I need you to wake up, little one. I know you can hear my voice. I’m right here— I’m not going anywhere,” he waited and listened, but her breathing only grew shallow.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” he hissed. She was much further into her coma than he originally thought. How did she come to such a state? Did he miscalculate her injuries? Was she so distressed that he couldn’t sense it? She seemed fine when he left her— he paused. “Fuck,” he could have berated himself all he wanted for his lack of foresight. Of course, not only did he leave her in an unfamiliar environment and alone, he also  _ hurt _ her. He thought the chance of omega dying from stress was minimal, that it had to be something grand like an injury or their mate dying— but he was obviously wrong. She was hurt, abused, and tortured, and he was responsible for adding more strain by subjecting her body to pleasure and then betraying her trust in her eyes, bringing her here and leaving her alone while on the cusp of her heat and then lashing out on her because he was angry and because he couldn’t control his own emotions being near her. Any other sane person would have broken down after such abuse— and omegas were sensitive by nature than any other species. And he tossed her aside.

_ Do you not want me?  _

Fuck. He was an  _ idiot _ . 

“I  _ want _ you,” he whispered. “You have no idea how much I wanted you back then— I would have fucked you in that cell if it wasn’t for your injuries,” his words were fervent as he ran his fingers over her skin. “I didn’t want to hurt you— I thought you needed some time.”

Still, no response. The Force was screaming. He cursed again. He had to try another method. Omegas responded to the scent of their alphas. And she couldn’t smell him through his suit. He was already in the process of removing his suit, his movements jerky as he tossed aside his helmet and mask, before he seized her mouth with a searing kiss. She tasted sweet **,** just like he thought she would. But her lips were cold. Her skin was clammy. She felt freezing to the touch. 

“ _ No _ ,” he moaned. She needed a body heat— his body. Not for the first time he cursed the complexity of his suit as he removed it from his body, taking too many precious minutes to get rid of it completely before he was completely nude. He climbed over her, doing the same with her own clothes as he tore them apart. He groaned, his body responding to the sight in front of him when his eyes laid on her bare skin. She looked perfect, like an  _ angel _ . He swallowed the lump in his throat, leaning over her form as he finally felt her body under his, his cock twitching as it grew into its erect state. The smell was intoxicating— he groaned again and buried his face in her neck, inhaling her rich scent.

“So  _ perfect _ ,” he growled against her skin, nudging his nose against the swollen scent gland on her neck. “So beautiful,” he kissed her skin, rubbing himself against her. He was  _ burning _ , his senses on override, barely able to think straight. When was the last time he’s had a skin-to-skin contact with someone? When was the last time he looked at someone with his own eyes, felt them with his own skin, tasted them with his own mouth? Certainly before his failure at the hands of his old master. It had been  _ years _ . 

“Little one,” he raised his head to look at her. “Please wake up. I can’t— I don’t want to lose you,” he waited with bated breath but she was still unresponsive even after he rubbed his own scent all over the omega’s neck. He gritted his teeth, running out of options. He glanced down, his mouth suddenly salivating as he focused on her swollen gland. She was unbonded and unmarked, her skin smooth with no scar marks. His cock throbbed again and he rolled his hips, lodging himself between her thighs without pushing in. If he did this… there was no turning back. His gaze flickered back to her face.

“You wanted me to bond you,” his voice was hoarse as he neared her neck, licking a wet trail of saliva across her gland. “You wanted to be  _ mine _ ,” he growled the last part, possessiveness taking over his senses. He would gladly make her his, if only to keep her alive. “You  _ asked _ for it,” he was running out of reasons  _ not _ to do it— because soon he found his teeth sinking into her neck, breaking through her skin and tasting her blood and she jumped, softly wailing as intense pleasure washed over her. It ricocheted back at him and he moaned, his cock leaking at the tip. Her scent soon mixed with his, his mind hazed with need, needing to complete the ritual of their bond. He let go of her skin, nibbling and sucking on the raw scar left by his teeth, feeling proud to make this omega  _ his _ . He only registered that she was finally awake when she tried to move and he lifted his head to find her eyes on him. It eluded him until then that this was the first time she’d seen him without his mask.

  
“ _ Vader _ ?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it. And I hope it made sense... there are cases for omegas to go into deep sleep/comatose state when they're overly stressed and hurt. The only thing that could help them would be their alphas. And Vader knows because (hint, hint) of his mother _and_ Padme (guess what that means?). Anyways, back to the porn (cause we've all been waiting for it) ^^


	14. Blue Sky, Stormy Ocean, and Blazing Amber

It was like emerging from the depths of a murky water, your senses jumbled and everything hazed. You thought it was a dream, hearing Vader’s voice inside your head, so  _ close _ to you that it felt like he was in the room with you. You thought you imagined his touch, what felt like his lips ghosting over your skin, his hot breath on your neck, his  _ scent _ — his real one washing over you. You thought you hallucinated it all— until you felt something sharp sinking into your skin and you  _ burned _ , your body responding as you gasped, your senses returning and zeroing on the spot beside your neck. Everything came together like a whirl and you were sinking in the waves of pleasure washing over you, making you blaze  _ alive _ . That was until you heard a sound, a moan, next to you and the weight of someone pressing you down into the soft mattress of the bed and you opened your eyes to find yourself in an unfamiliar room, pinned down by a body, a  _ naked _ body, feeling their arousal pressing against your already soaked folds and then you  _ remembered _ . The last remnants of your memories flickering through before you… before something happened to make you feel like this. Like you were still drowning… but  _ burning _ . 

Your eyes locked onto an unfamiliar set of blue eyes staring down at you. You could only think of one person who could smell like this, who still resembled Vader’s scent even if it was amplified ten fold now that he was out of his suit. Speaking of which—

“ _ Vader _ ?” your voice was just a whisper but it carried the weight of the unspoken truth because you  _ knew _ it was him. You took a moment to study his features, your eyes raking over the multiple scars covering his pale face, the deep set of his brows, his wide nose and his strong jaw, your gaze pausing over his full lips and then returning back to his eyes. He was bald and he was much older than you, heavily scarred but still retaining some sort of beauty around him that captivated you and made you forget for a moment where you were.

“Yes,” his natural voice had a rasp to it. He almost looked… ashamed. Your eyes once more trailed down to his lips, noticing a trail of blood. You remembered why you woke up— felt a tingling sensation on your neck.

“What—” you frowned, your mind still frazzled and confused and you tried freeing your arm only to realize you were pinned by Vader’s body. “What— what  _ happened _ ? Where am I—”

“In my chamber,” his intense gaze was unsettling, even more so than the man suited in full armor. “I… brought you here.”

You were confused, still frowning and trying to piece the lost memories. “I… I don’t understand? I thought you left—”

“I did,” he confirmed. “I came back.”

“ _ Why _ ?”

“How are you feeling?” he asked instead, which made you feel even more addled. 

“I… I’m  _ fine _ ,” you tried to move, tried to create some space between him and yourself, only to realize your predicament when your hips shifted and you  _ felt _ him, stiff and throbbing and right between your own legs. Your breath hitched and so did his, and you could have sworn you heard him growl. You tried not to think how you felt your blood rushing through your body down to the spot where you felt your own core throb and gush out slick, only adding to the wetness dripping out of your folds, until you realized what that meant. “I’m in  _ heat _ ,” you exclaimed, mortified. 

“Yes, I’m well aware,” he replied with the most dead-pan look you’ve ever imagined him wearing on his face. 

“I… I don’t  _ feel _ like it,” it certainly didn’t feel like the last time. Your mind wasn’t as clouded, and you weren’t practically begging him to fuck you, although if you continued being in the position trapped under him, it wouldn’t be such a far-fetched idea in the long run. 

“I know,” he sighed. “I suppose it might take a day or two for your… emotional state to catch up to your body’s response to your cycle.”

You narrowed your eyes at his strange comment. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He gave you an odd look. It was still strange seeing him like this, without his mask. “You were in a coma,” he finally responded. “You almost died.” 

You were left speechless by his response. Why didn’t you remember  _ any _ of it? You thought you were only dreaming. But the more you thought of it, the more you realized how…  _ off _ you truly felt. You were drained,  _ exhausted _ , like someone drained all the energy and strength out of you and left you for dead. Something ticked off in your memory and you concentrated on that specific thought. There was a reason why this happened in the first place. You remembered the mission, getting captured, Tarkin’s ship… being tortured. Pain and suffering. But amidst it all you felt a far worse ache incomparable to what you felt back in that prison cell. You looked up at Vader to see him watching you, like he was waiting for you to crack. You gasped.

“You  _ left _ me,” the accusation leaving your mouth stung, once again bringing in the suppressed memories and feelings of that moment when he left you in the most vulnerable state. 

“I know—” he started to say something but the anger had already taken a hold of you. 

“And what,” you hissed, narrowing your eyes. “You’re back now because you  _ care _ ? Because you actually give a shit about me  _ dying _ ?” 

He narrowed his eyes as well. “I’ve  _ always _ cared about your well-being, little one,” his voice was clipped. “I only left to give you more time—”

“Bantha shit,” you interrupted him. “I remember your exact words,” you tried pushing him off again, this time feeling disgusted that your body was craving the alpha’s touch. You didn’t want to feel him pressing against you, no matter how  _ good _ it felt. But he was too heavy, and you were too weak, and by the end of it you screamed from desperation. “ _ Get off of me _ !”

“Little one—”

“Get off of me,” you repeated, taking in harsh breaths, trying  _ not _ to think about Vader’s scent. “I want to  _ leave _ .” 

He gave you an exasperated look. “I don’t think that’s a good idea—”

“I don’t give a karking hell about what  _ you _ think,” you snarled. “You gave a very clear idea what you think of  _ me _ .” 

“And I was  _ wrong _ ,” he tried elevating his voice as well, but it came out more raspier and wheezier, lessening the impact he was trying to make. “I realized I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Was it  _ before _ or  _ after _ you learned that I was, as you put it,  _ dying _ ?” you glared at him. You just then remembered you’d asked him a similar question when he first brought you to this place. This seemed to be a recurrent issue and by the look on his face you could only guess you hit the spot as he glared back. 

“I don’t appreciate your tone with me,” he hissed. 

You had a sudden urge to roll your eyes. Instead, you focused him with your most intimidating glare. “If you would be so  _ kind _ as to get the fuck off of me, Lord Vader,” you added his title as an after-thought, managing a smile that consisted mostly of bared teeth, earning another growl from the man himself.

“You’re  _ impossible _ ,” he hissed but it worked as he finally shifted away from you. You tried not to think of the reason why your clothes were ripped, nor the reason for you being in his chamber in the first place. You barely even cast him a glance as you hastily sat up, only for your head to spin and for you to start falling forward, the gravity taking a hold of you as you plummeted towards the ground from the bed. Except you never hit the floor because you felt something stiff wrap around your midsection and lurch you back.

“I  _ told _ you,” Vader's voice was in your ear, your back pressed against his chest as he held you with his arm wrapped around your stomach. “Not a good idea.”

Your head was still spinning and you softly whined. “I don’t want to be in here.”

“That’s a  _ lie _ ,” he murmured, his hot breath on your neck. “And we both know it.”

“You’re taking advantage of my condition,” you tried to push him away but he only tightened his hold on you.

“I’m only trying to help,” you felt his lips on your skin, sucking on the junction of your neck to your shoulder and you gasped, the touch sending your nerves ablaze. 

“Vader—”

“If you truly do not want to be in here, then I will take you to your room,” his teeth grazed your skin and you jumped at the sensation, muffling the moan that you barely managed to suppress by biting your lip. “But I won’t let you walk on your own— not in the… condition you’re in, as you put it.”

You considered his proposal, debating your options. You couldn’t deny how it felt to feel his mouth on your skin, to feel his body pressed against yours, the heat of it almost searing your skin. And the smell— it was so strong and so rich that it made your head spin. You wanted to stay here, despite the rationality that you should leave that was very quickly being clouded by the desire brewing in the pit of your stomach. 

“Why did you come back?” you asked again. 

You felt him pause, heard him sigh. “I didn’t want to lose you.”

His admission made you catch your own breath and you shifted in his arms to look behind you at him. “But you wouldn’t have come back otherwise.”

The muscles on his face shifted as he clenched his teeth. “What do you want me to say?” he finally replied and you shifted your gaze away from his face, knowing the answer to your question without having to hear him say it. Your eyes suddenly landed on his arm that was still loosely wrapped around your waist, or what  _ should _ have been his arm. In fact, when you finally looked over his body, you realized that both of his arms were prosthetics, skeleton-like appendages that reached up to his elbows. You couldn’t believe you didn’t notice it earlier.

You gasped. “What  _ happened _ ?” The question seemed to unsettle him by the look on his face and you hastily tried to apologize but he interrupted you with his response.

“The same thing that forced me into the suit,” he shifted you fully around so you could face him. You were both sitting on the bed and it offered you a full view of his mangled body. That was the only way you could describe what you saw as you took in his scars and marks that covered every inch of his body below the neck, most severe of it past his waist. Even his legs— you never anticipated that either— were not his own, the metal reaching up to his knees and attached to his disfigured flesh. 

You noticed a very distinct set of scar amidst his old ones on his side, and you recalled with clarity what caused it in the first place as you reached for it and traced it with your fingers. 

“I remember this one,” you softly murmured. “Zakkeg, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” he confirmed. 

“And you called it just a  _ scratch _ ,” you were still gently trailing your fingers along the uneven skin, memorizing all the bumps and ridges from whatever accident had befallen on him. You wanted to know what happened, but you knew Vader was less than likely to divulge in the details of his injuries. 

“Burns,” you were startled by his voice and you looked up at his face with a questioning look in your eyes. “I was burned— alive,” he continued with barely any inflection in his voice and you stared at him with wide eyes. You could hardly believe his words, but the pattern of his scarring all but confirmed the validity of his claims. You weren’t even sure what to say to that.

“You don’t need to say anything,” he continued, reading your thoughts. “The last thing I need is your pity.”

“I’m not— I wasn’t going to—” you stammered. 

He gave you a look, which told you otherwise and you quickly looked away to hide the embarrassment you felt at him uncovering your inner feelings on the matter. You did feel pity for him— but amidst it all, another feeling which you couldn’t quite place. You decided to instead continue with moving your fingers along his skin, quiet in your own musings as you moved upwards towards his chest, where you noticed the most pronounced scarring in the form of many cuts and long scars, unnatural in their form against the rest of his body. You figured it must have been from whatever surgeries he had, because the location of it coincided with the placement of his chest box on his suit. He did tell you he was dependent on his suit for the life support it offered. You were just moving towards his shoulders where you noticed some bruising, when Vader hissed and jerked away from your touch.

You looked up in alarm. “I’m sorry— did I hurt you?”

“No,” his tone was clipped. “Just… sore,” he tried shifting away from you but you latched onto the metal of his arm, looking at the bruises with renewed interest. They did look new amidst the rest of the wreckage, turning yellow and almost blending in with his pale skin, so they must have been a few days old and already healing. But the fact that they still hurt and he was obviously uncomfortable enough to lean away from your touch told you of the more sinister reason behind his injuries. 

“What happened?” you didn’t need to tell him of what you suspected because he already heard you by the look on his face as he grimaced. 

“Nothing to concern yourself with,” he replied, his tone leaving no room for argument but you persisted.

“Vader,” you started. “You might take me for a fool, but even I can tell that these still hurt you. And… I don’t want you to,” your voice trailed off, unspoken plea in your words as your omega instincts resurfaced and made you ache for the hurt alpha in front of you.

“I do not take you for a fool,” he gently pried your fingers off his arm, his other hand reaching for your face as he trailed his fingers along your cheek, the cool metal feeling good against your heated skin. 

“But—”

“The rebels moved their base,” the swift change in subject almost caused you a whiplash at how fast you moved your head, your eyes wide as you stared at Vader.

“Does that mean…” you trailed off, hope in your voice.

“Yes,” he nodded his head. “The base was abandoned when Tarkin’s force arrived. The Emperor was less than pleased,” you were smiling, hope blossoming in your chest and swelling as you realized all your pains counted for  _ something _ . That by withholding the vital information from Tarkin you gave the Rebellion enough time to evacuate to a new location— one you were not privy of but it hardly mattered. All that mattered was that they were alive and that you succeeded and you almost laughed until you caught something fleeting in Vader’s gaze and you paused, going through his words one more time. There was something you were missing, something in Vader’s words that made you backtrack to the pressing matters at hand.

“You are quite perceptive,” Vader continued just as realization dawned on you and you gasped. “Smart, and stubbornly persistent—”

“Does the Emperor have anything to do with these?” you indicated towards his bruises.

Vader sighed, almost liked a tired drawn-out sound as he closed his eyes. “A punishment for my failures,” it was enough of an answer to make you see red as anger took over you and you hissed.

“He has  _ no _ right—”

“He has every right,” Vader opened his eyes. “He’s my  _ master _ .”

You couldn’t understand how someone could do such a thing, especially to someone like Vader. Your plain confusion, mixed with anger was evident on your face and Vader let out another sigh as he neared your face.

“I… appreciate your concern,” you held your breath as you watched him, your heart picking up its speed as Vader closed the rest of the space between the two of you. “But this is not something you should be concerning yourself with.”

“But—” you were silenced with his mouth, his lips sealing you in a kiss and for a moment you’d forgotten about everything except how it felt to be kissed by Vader, and taste him as his scent washed over your senses again, making you softly whine against his lips. 

“I couldn’t resist,” he finally pulled away, only enough that you could still feel his hot breath on your face. “I know you still resent me—”

“ _ More _ ,” you pleaded, barely listening to his words as you tried to close the space between your faces. 

He stared at you with an odd expression on his face. “You don’t have to pretend to want me—”

“But I  _ do _ ,” you whined. “I know I shouldn’t… but I can’t help it.”

“Even after you’ve seen what I look like?” there was no emotion behind his words but something told you that this question was of the utmost importance to him. He didn’t have to hide the fact that he was uncomfortable with the idea of you seeing him in such a debilitating state because you could clearly see it. Still, you were more than unsettled about his question, and you tried to hide how it made you feel.

“...Should I be concerned about how you look?” you carefully replied, trying to keep your emotions behind a blank look.

“You don’t find me grotesque? Or repulsive—”

“ _ No _ ,” you cried out. “No,” you repeated, trying to catch your breath before you continued. “If anything… your scars tell me you’ve survived something that would be impossible for most people. And you’ve shown me your real self… that’s more than I could ever ask for,” you were silent after that, trying to show your true feelings through your emotions and thoughts as you poured them out for him to listen through the Force. You showed him what you truly saw him as— as a warrior and survivor, a man with immense strength and power. His scars only added to the overall character of this mysterious man.

“You said you hated me,” he finally broke the silence and you winced at that, recalling those exact words. Did you  _ truly _ hate him? Would you still feel this way if the Rebellion was attacked? You weren’t sure and you couldn’t tell what you’d have done if there was a different outcome to your situation. 

“And you said you couldn’t be with me during my heat,” you quoted his words, noticing how his expression shifted to something less… serious. “Unless… you’re still planning on leaving?” you watched him, waiting with bated breath for his response. 

“No,” he shifted beside you, pulling you on top of his lap and you instinctively wrapped your arms around his neck. “Unless you still prefer to leave my chamber?” there was a questioning tone in his voice as he watched you.

You paused, your gaze locked with his, some palpable tension passing between the two of you. “When I was still…  _ asleep _ , I thought I heard your voice,” you slowly started. “...And you said something…”

“Ah,” he inclined his head, picking up on your stray thoughts. “My admission.”

“Was it true then?”

“About me wanting you? Or about me admitting I would have gladly fucked you in that cell?” his blunt words sent your body ablaze and you gasped, feeling the flickers of fire in the depths of your core slowly building into the raging fire. 

“Both,” you whispered, biting your lip.

“Yes,” he growled. “I thought I made it rather clear,” he shifted his hips and you felt his hardness pressing against you. It took all of your willpower not to glance down and see his stiff erection. 

“So… if I asked you to fuck me… would you do it?” you were suddenly feeling nervous, waiting for his response as you chewed on your lips. 

“Is that what you want?” he was doing this on purpose, answering your questions with one of his own, as though he was waiting for you to tell him  _ exactly _ what you wanted from him. 

“I want—” you were drawing blood from your gnawed lips. “I don’t just want you to fuck me,” you shifted on top of his lap, rubbing yourself against him, watching his face as his expression changed and his eyes burned with lust, mirroring the look on your own face. You paused, waiting for him to say something, letting your loud thoughts out of your head for him to hear. Instead, his lips barely thinned into a smirk and you growled.

“You are expecting me to say this out loud, aren’t you?” you narrowed your eyes. 

“What would you have done if I  _ couldn’t _ read your thoughts?” he answered instead and you let out a string of curses. 

“ _ Fine _ ,” you snarled. “I want your knot, alpha. I want you to knot me,” your body felt like you were set on flames and your cheeks burned, but yet you refused to look away from his piercing gaze. “There’s no reason for you  _ not _ to do it,” you continued while he remained silent, recalling with clarity the reason for his reluctance the last time you two were engaged in sexual activities with one another. “I’m perfectly safe and there is no danger here—”

“And how many times would you want to receive my knot?” he asked, interrupting you.

You froze, looking at him with wide eyes. “As many times as you can give me,” you whispered. “Preferably every time you’re inside of me.”

“And can you handle that, little omega?” he snarled, his voice dropping and you gulped, feeling your sanity slowly ebbing away as Vader’s scent changed into the rich arousal of an alpha near his rut. 

“And why wouldn’t I?” you raised up to his challenge, your eyes burning. 

“Because I won’t hold back,” and suddenly you found yourself flipped on your back, your vision swimming from the sudden change in position, and Vader’s body above you, pinning you to the mattress with his weight, your arms raised above your head and held in place by his fingers wrapped around both of your wrists. 

“Alpha,” you cried, trying to arch your back and shift your hips, only for your body to be seized by the invisible threads of the Force. 

“You’re in no position to be engaging in such activities just yet, omega,” he spoke and you wailed your protests only to be muffled when his mouth collided with yours, drowning your pathetic whimpers. “You need to regain your strength first, little one,” he continued, his lips trailing from your mouth to your neck, nipping and kissing the trail he was leaving with both his lips and his teeth until he stopped by your swollen gland and you whimpered, feeling yourself respond to the alpha’s presence in the most unusual way. It only reminded you of the blood you saw on his lips and the sensation you felt just before waking up.

“Alpha,  _ please _ ,” you cried, trying to wrench your wrists out of his strong hold. “I don’t—” you gasped again, hissing when you felt his hot breath on your neck, his teeth barely grazing the sensitive part on your skin, and everything just spun out of your control. “What— did you do something to me?”

“Patience,” he chided, completely ignoring your question as he continued past your neck to nibble on your shoulder. He let go of your wrists just then, but before you could revel in your freedom, your arms were seized by the Force with the rest of your body, and you could do nothing but lay and be subjected to Vader’s own whims as he played with your body like an expert puppeteer with his doll. “Let me show you something,” he murmured, his hot breath over your breasts, your nipples stiff and standing at attention under his intense gaze.

“What are you— oh,  _ maker _ ,” you moaned when you felt his tongue swirling over one stiffened peak and you would have jumped if you hadn't been seized by the wretched Force. He chuckled, the sound reverberating through your body, before he seized the nipple in his mouth, gently sucking on it and drawing more obscene sounds from your mouth.

“I take it no one had ever done this to you before,” you heard him say as he switched to your other breast, repeating the same motion but this time gently sinking his teeth and tugging, making you cry out as you felt the slick gushing out of your folds. 

“No— of course not,” your voice was breathless. “You’re the first.”

“First,” he hummed as though tasting the word against his tongue, dipping even lower as he peppered your skin with kisses, leaving a trail of wet saliva in his wake before stopping himself at your waistline and you suddenly felt self-conscious for making such a mess on his bed sheets, your thighs slicked with your arousal.

“I’m sorry—” you started to say but he interrupted you with his hot breath over your glistening folds, his hands slowly pushing your legs apart and bending them at your knees, making you feel exposed at being presented to his view at such an angle where he could see  _ everything _ . It only added to more slick gushing out of you and you whimpered.

“You’re so  _ wet _ ,” he murmured, his breath tickling your skin. If you could move, you would have already bucked your hips into his face, your primal instinct kicking in and trying to guide your body to do something you’ve never done with anyone before. “Am I the first to see you like this as well?”

“You know the answer to that,” your voice was hoarse. “You know you’re the first one to do these…  _ things _ to me.”

“Even after you returned back to your base?” you almost huffed with annoyance, your mind preoccupied with the only thing your body craved at the moment— his touch. He was teasing you, his metal fingers gently drawing circles on your thighs, so  _ close _ to your center but still so far away that it  _ hurt _ . 

“I didn’t want anyone touching me,” you admitted. “I didn’t know why at the time…” it must have been your instinct even after Vader wiped off your memory. Your body remembered him, remembered the touch of an alpha. And it didn’t want anyone else’s touch. You understood now why omega-alpha’s relationship was sacred, why it was so dangerous to form a bond. If your body was responding to Vader now like he was the only thing keeping you alive, you were afraid to think what would happen should you bond with him.

“I would have killed Tarkin if he touched you,” Vader’s voice had suddenly gone cold, dangerous and you shivered at his tone, remembering that this man could kill with just his thought. “Which is why I killed those guards.”

“What guards?” you were confused.

“The ones guarding the cell you were kept in,” you lifted your head just enough to meet Vader’s gaze, and gasped when you saw his eyes. They were no longer blue, but blazing with the unnatural amber, its color flickering and changing like the fire. You suddenly found that you couldn’t breathe.

“Your…  _ eyes _ ,” you choked.

“You’re  _ mine _ ,” he snarled, completely disregarding your comment and your heart lurched at his possessive tone, the look in his eyes almost scaring you. Your body, it seemed, was on the different tune with your brain, because you felt yourself throb, your pussy aching for his touch, making even more mess with your fluids gushing out of you right before his eyes. 

“Don’t look,” you pleaded, your cheeks burning, watching with a sort of mortified curiosity as he licked his lips, his gaze darkening when his eyes shifted from your face to the scene right in front of him. 

“You’re always so wet,” his voice returned back to the huskiness, laced with arousal and need as he lowered his face between your legs, his tongue swiping across your inner thigh, making you let out a high pitch whine. “Would you be this wet for anyone else?”

You couldn’t think let alone talk. You screamed when you felt his teeth sinking into your thigh, his nose practically buried in your sopped folds, sending your nerves into shock as you felt yourself quiver and shake.

“I asked you a question,” he lifted his head and you could have cried from the loss of sensation of his hot breath on your sensitive folds. “Would you be this wet for anyone else?”

“ _ No _ ,” you choked. “No—  _ please— _ I need—”

“Would you let anyone else see you like this?” you couldn’t comprehend all his questions, the reason behind them and his  _ possessiveness _ that you couldn't shake off. Instead of it making any sense, it was only turning you on some more. 

“No,” you were crying. “Just… please touch me… alpha,  _ please _ .” 

“Would you beg for anyone else like you’re begging me now?” he was licking the spot where he bit you, his lips sealed over and sucking on your skin.

“I don’t want anyone else,” you screamed, your patience finally wearing thin. “I just want  _ you— _ I want your mouth on me. Fuck, Vader, just make me cum—” your screaming died mid-way when you felt something hot and wet sliehrting its way in and you lost it, your sanity finally breaking and replaced with unsatiated need of a sexually deprived omega.

“Oh,  _ maker _ ,” you moaned, your eyes rolling in the back of your head when you felt Vader’s lips closing over your outer folds and  _ sucking _ , creating a suction which made you scream and writhe like an untamed nexu, even with your body still being under the Force’s hold. “Oh— yes—  _ yes— _ I love it— I love it so  _ much _ ,” you were blabbering, your mind too far gone to care what you sounded like. All that mattered was Vader’s mouth between your legs, sucking and lapping with his tongue, collecting all the slick gushing out of you and swallowing it like it was the most precious liquid known to mankind, like he was dying of thirst and finally found his reprieve. You could barely hear his own moaning and grunting over the high pitch noise of your whining and screaming. The room was filled with filthy noises— and your wet pussy trumped over them all with all the squelching your folds were making each time Vader thrust in his tongue. It wasn’t long until you were tethering on the edge of your first release.

“Oh, please, don’t stop,” you were begging, your eyes closed and your chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. “Don’t  _ ever _ stop— I’m gonna cum— I’m so close—”

Vader let go of you just enough to make his next demand, his fingers flickering and massaging your swollen clit between his metal digits. “Look at  _ me _ when you cum,” you almost dismissed his demand until he stopped his ministrations altogether and you were forced to lift your head and find his gaze, your eyes pausing on his lips and chin covered in your slick. 

“Good,” he praised you and you responded by mewling with delight, before he dropped his head again and resumed his sucking and licking, all the while keeping his gaze on you. It was all too much, your senses on overload when he used the Force to play with your breasts, and the next moment you were cumming, your hips bucking against his face when he finally released his hold on you, practically fucking yourself against his lips as you screamed at the top of your lungs, your orgasm washing over you and immobilizing you as you rode out wave after wave, continuing to absentmindedly rubbing yourself against Vader’s face. It seemed he didn’t mind— if anything, his fingers were digging into your thighs to try and keep you still as he lapped at your release, swallowing your sweet juices. 

You could no longer keep your head upright and you dropped it back on the bed, trying to regain your breathing long after you finally regained the mobility in your limbs. Vader soon dislodged himself from your tightly wrapped legs around his head and crawled his way up to you, your gaze locking with his before he dropped his head and kissed you. You could taste yourself on him, his mouth and chin still wet from your release, and you proceeded to lick at his face, cleaning him off as you mewled.

“I want to taste  _ you _ ,” you whispered, your voice too hoarse when he finally pulled away enough to look at you. You never got the chance to taste his release when you offered to suck him off, and now you craved his cock more than you could ever express with your words, your mouth already watering at the idea of him deep within your mouth.

“Not now,” you pouted and he chuckled. “You’ll get your chance later, little one.”

“Is that a promise?”

“That’s a guarantee,” he chuckled again. “We’ll have a whole week ahead of us. I’m sure we can fit one or two sessions in between all the fucking,” his words only made you hiss and you pressed yourself closer to him, feeling his stiff member pressing into you.

“Let me help you with that—”

“Later,” he shifted above you. “You need your rest, omega. And you need food if you want to keep up with me,” you flushed, barely nodding your head to let him know you agreed with him. “Good,” only then did you notice the color of his eyes and you lifted your arm to trace your fingers along his brow, catching his gaze with your eyes.

“They’re blue again,” you softly murmured, looking into their color. “I thought… for a moment there, they looked amber.”

“They were,” you almost pulled away when you saw the flicker of color in his eyes, blue briefly turning into the fiery orange and then back to blue. “You don’t like it,” it was more of a statement than a question and you hesitantly nodded your head.

“...Blue suits you better,” you whispered and you saw something briefly crossing his features before it disappeared. 

“Alright then,” he nodded his head. “I’ll keep them blue,” you didn’t bother asking him how he did that, or the meaning behind each color. You had a feeling that if you asked, he would be reluctant to tell you, at least for now. So instead, you smiled and leaned in to place a small kiss on his lips, suddenly feeling tired. 

“Take your rest, little one,” he murmured against your lips, tucking you in into the blanket. You were only cognizant enough to make a mental note to ask him for more pillows and blankets when you woke up to complete your nest, before you plunged into darkness. 

You slept soundly and peacefully for the first time in days, the nightmares eluding you and your dreams consisting of a beautiful nameless man with strikingly gold hair and blue eyes, reminding you of baby blue sky and stormy ocean, always changing in color but never failing to mesmerize you as you recalled seeing Vader’s eyes for the first time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on writing 14 pages and over 6k words but here we are :o and I regret nothing. I hope you enjoyed it! Really appreciate your comments and kudos, thank you lovelies ^^


	15. Losing Control

You choked back a sound, your fingers digging into Vader’s skin, your thighs quivering as you tightly clenched around him, drawing a ragged breath from his lips. You were straddling him again, the position offering you a semblance of control as you rode him, his own fingers wrapped around your thighs and painfully holding you in place as he repeatedly thrust deep inside of you. You’ve lost track of time, the hours blending in without any indication if it was day or night in the closed off space of Vader’s chamber. The only thing that mattered was his presence and his body near yours, and the rich scent of his alpha’s scent as he fucked you through your heat. 

“I can’t get enough of this,” you gasped, your head falling against his shoulder as you nuzzled your nose against the crook of his neck. “When you’re inside of me… I feel so _full_.” 

Your words only encouraged Vader as he shifted his hips and increased the strength of his thrusts, almost spearing you in half with his thick cock, the length of which was almost too much as you squirmed and let out a pitiful cry which quickly turned into moan. You pushed yourself closer to his chest, your naked breasts rubbing against his scarred skin, bouncing up and down as you met his thrusts with the rise and fall of your own hips in tandem with his erratic movements. You could already feel the swell of the extra skin at the base of his cock, his knot slowly forming just outside the lips of your pussy. 

“I love the feel of your cock,” you moaned into his skin, your speech almost slurred with your arousal. “It’s the _perfect_ size… it’s so big that it hurts—” the words died on the tip of your tongue when Vader grunted and shifted your legs, allowing him the absolute control over his movements as you helplessly latched onto him and were mercilessly pounded by his thick shaft, your incoherent babbling soon turning into the outright pathetic whining and crying as you squeezed shut your eyes and gave in.

“I thought you said you were going to make me regret for teasing you,” you heard him say above your head, recalling with clarity the morning when you woke up to find him once again between your legs, sucking and lapping at your folds, drinking in the extra slick that your body produced overnight. By then your body and mind were fully in sync and you cried for him to rut with you, only for him to deny you the pleasures as he watched you writhe and beg for him as he held you with the invisible restraints of the Force. You cursed him, as well as the wretched Force many times over the short period of time while he continued to bury his lips and his tongue between your sopping folds, drawing sounds from your lips that you were ashamed to admit your vocal cords knew to produce. You promised him then he’d regret it, after he fucked you through the morning hours, after he made sure you were replenished with both food and water, and after he ensured the bed was adequate enough for your comfort as he helped you make your nest. Only then did you finally find yourself on top of him, straddling his hips, only to find yourself unable to function as you clutched yourself tightly to him. 

“I _will_ ,” you breathed, your mind growing hazy once again. 

“I don’t think so,” he taunted you, his breath ruffling your disarrayed hair. “You can’t even spend a minute without begging for me to be back inside of you. And how do you think you’d make me regret anything at all when you’re incapable of functioning without my cock deep within you?”

You wanted to throw back an insult, instead you whimpered, feeling him swell just below the junction of your bodies. 

“Your knot,” you gasped, lifting your head just enough to meet his gaze. “It’s getting big.”

“It is,” he gave no indication past that response that he was planning on doing anything at all about your predicament. 

“I need it,” you whined into his lips. “Please knot me. You promised me you would.”

“Did I ever give you such promise?” he asked instead, watching your face and your panicked gaze. You knew the trick you’ve used on him back on the moon won’t work again, that he was prepared for your recklessness and would stop you if you gave any indication that you would force his knot into you with a rough slam of your hips. 

“I—I think… I don’t—”

“I told you I won’t hold back,” he continued when you failed to give him an answer. “I asked if you could handle that.”

You froze while he continued to slowly move his hips, his gaze searing into you. You were at loss for words, your mouth suddenly going dry. 

“But I never gave you that promise,” he continued and suddenly you were desperate for him to understand. 

“When you first knotted me,” you swallowed, your breaths coming out in short gasps. “I’ve never felt so… _right_ in my entire life than at that moment. I could never forget that feeling of being so full of you, of feeling like you would break me if you were going to swell even more, but I was never afraid or felt like I couldn’t handle it… because I could and because I _did_ . I took _all_ of you in… what makes you think I can’t do that again?”

His gaze darkened and you waited with anticipated nervousness for his response. “I’m afraid what I’d do to you if I lose my control,” he finally admitted, the seriousness of his admission instantly clearing your head like you were submerged in the cold water. 

“What do you mean?” by then you both stopped moving, his knot pressing against you like a cruel reminder that your time was up and that it would be almost impossible for him to slide into you now without hurting you. 

“You aren’t the first omega I’ve been with,” he quietly admitted, his voice barely a whisper and if you weren’t so close to him you’d miss his words completely if you were just a little ways away from him. His words shouldn’t have shocked you— after all, he was much older than you and much more experienced— but what shocked you was the realization in the form of a faint scar by his neck, one you’d missed over the many scars his body already possessed from his unfortunate accident. You stared at it, memorizing it, the fading mark in the form of teeth almost glossed over and hidden, and suddenly you realized what it all meant.

“You were once bonded,” you murmured, the truth in your words ringing over the quietness in the room. “You had a mate.”

“I did,” he agreed with you, and you could hear _something_ in his voice, something he was desperately trying to hide.

“What happened?” you looked up from the mark on his neck to his face.

“She died,” the words cut into you like a gust of cold wind. “And I was the reason for her death.”

You stared at him in silence, unable to formulate a response. What could you possibly say to him without knowing the whole story? 

“I should have never bonded her to me,” he continued, his eyes suddenly taking a glossy look, like he was far away in his own memory. 

“Vader,” you softly murmured, your arousal replaced with concern as you neared his face and placed a soft kiss on his lips to try and bring him back to the present. “I’m not asking you to bond me… all I’m asking—”

“She was in heat,” he interrupted you, his voice laced with forgotten pain of his past. “And alone with me…and I was only too eager to please her and rut with her and she gladly gave in, her reasons clouded by her raging hormones. And when she finally came to reason… we were bonded. A respectful Senator and a Padawan who was assigned to protect her, never meant to be more than acquaintances. Instead, she married me out of obligation, claiming it was love. And I believed her, gladly answering her whims anytime she was in her heat, knotting her over and over until she announced she was pregnant. By then I had already dug her grave and there was no escape from that hell. I was madly in love with her, dependent on her like any being would be dependent for a breath of pure oxygen. And I failed to see what it was doing to her… to our marriage… to everything. I was selfish—”

“Vader, _please_ ,” you ached for him, begging him to snap out of his misery. 

“I killed her,” his words cut through you like a knife, his gaze sharpening as he zoomed it on you. “I killed her _and_ our unborn child,” you let out a shuddering breath, suddenly feeling cold. And just as suddenly you no longer felt safe in his presence, his cock no longer feeling exquisite inside of you, instead only locking you in place to him. Even if you could run away, you couldn’t, not when his metal fingers were digging into your sides.

“Why are you telling me all this?” you softly cried.

“I’m warning you,” he shifted, as though sensing your unease (and perhaps that’s exactly what he did), when he pulled out of you. “That I can’t lose my control again like I did the first time. I can’t… I don’t want to lose you too,” he finished, his voice catching. 

You stayed still, still straddling his hips, your arms still holding onto him. “I don’t understand—” you started, your voice small.

“I don’t expect you to,” he cut you off. “I was selfish in my reasons to save you too. I should have told you this from the moment we’ve met.”

“What are you even—” your eyes widened when he lifted his hand and trailed his fingers across the skin on your neck, right over your swollen gland. 

“Your desire to be with me… it’s not just your hormones and your heat, little one,” he softly spoke. “If I didn’t do it… you would have been dead.”

“Did _what_?” you felt dread polling in at the pit of your stomach, like you already knew what he was about to say but denying it every moment since you’ve woken up. 

“Can’t you feel it?” he murmured. “The pull, the connection that wasn’t there before. It’s not yet solidified, at least not until you complete your part of the bonding process—”

“You _didn’t_ ,” you gasped, your hand already smacking away his own from your neck and feeling the raised bumps on the swollen patch of skin, confirming what you already knew, what you suspected. 

“You weren’t responding to me,” he continued. “I’ve tried everything— this was the only solution.”

“To _bond_ me?” you cried. 

“I told you it’s not yet complete. For you to bond to me completely you would have to mark me too,” you stared at him with wide eyes and he sighed, feeling your dread and reading your jumbled thoughts running through your head. “I’m not planning on letting you do that. There won’t be a repeat of the past.”

“How _considerate_ of you,” you spat, pushing him away from you. 

“Omega—”

“ _Don’t_ ,” you snarled, detangling your body from his. “Get out.”

For once he didn’t argue, perhaps sensing your determination that you’d fight him if he persisted on staying with you even when you needed him the most. You were just starting your cycle, and the need to be with alpha almost clouded your senses again, until you looked into his eyes and a new wave of dread washed over you. His eyes were the color of gold.

“As you wish,” he finally replied, leaving the bed and hastily donning his suit while your gaze remained locked on the bed sheets before you, refusing to look in his direction. You shuddered when you heard the click of his helmet to his mask, the ominous sound of his respirator filling in the tense silence in the chamber. He paused briefly, as though he was about to say something to you, until he simply turned and left the room, leaving you alone with your wild thoughts and the unmistakable pull of your body for his touch the more distance he put between the two of you. 

___

He sensed her distress long before he heard her shrieking voice, his senses sharpened and his alpha instincts overwhelming his own promise to stay away from the omega as several days spanned and her cycle neared the end. He was ignoring it initially, attributing her cries to her desperate attempts to ride out her own heat alone. He stayed in the near vicinity of her, part of his reluctance to leave was attributed to his inner hidden fears that she would relapse back into her comatose state. He was not prepared for the difficulty it took him to stay away from her, repeatedly marching up and down the hallways of the fortress, nearing his own chamber until he would decide at the last moment to turn back and leave the omega alone.

This time her screams were more urgent, more desperate in their sound, and he couldn’t help but tap into the Force to feel her emotions only to realize for the reason why she was feeling so troubled and upset. It appeared that she was having a nightmare, a vivid one— one that forced her to relieve her time held as Tarkin’s prisoner. He wasted no time— he was already halfway to his own quarters, his steps quick and his mind set, when he gave himself a moment of doubt once he reached the doors to the chamber. He was rethinking his decision to enter until the omega let out another cry and all his reluctance evaporated with a silent hiss of the doors and he was instantly by her side, kneeling in front of her form wrapped up in the fort of blankets and pillows.

“Little one,” he gently shook her by her shoulder, trying to wake her up from her nightmare. It did nothing to rouse her, and she let out another whimper, her mind on the loop skipping over the part of Tarkin injecting her with the drugs. He frowned beneath his helmet and tried again, this time sending a suggestion through the Force just as he expertly tried to pluck the worst memories of her time with Tarkin out of her mind. It worked as she shifted and then opened her eyes, her gaze instantly landing on him. 

“You were having a nightmare,” he had the desire to explain himself of his reason for being here. When she failed to respond, just laying there and watching him, he sent a quick scan through the Force to ensure she was alright for him to leave, before he started raising himself to his full height only to be stopped by her voice.

“Stay.”

He froze, casting her a look of surprise that she couldn’t see behind his mask. 

“Stay,” she repeated. “Please.” 

He frowned. “Are you—”

“I’m in the right state of mind,” she interrupted him. “If you were wondering.”

He was still reluctant, unconvinced, and more than anything… _confused_. “You’re asking me to stay even after everything I’ve told you?”

She sighed and then propped herself up, her face leveled with his mask. “I’ve been thinking,” she slowly started. “That I was only angry with you because you didn’t tell me about marking me. But then I realized that you truly must not have had any other choice.”

He was staring at her for a moment longer, waiting for her to continue. When he waited long enough to realize she was waiting for his response he all but said the only thing that he could think of at the moment. 

“What about everything else I’ve told you about? What about me killing my own wife—”

“You once told me you’ve never killed an omega before,” she cut in. “When we first met. Or did you lie about that?”

He paused, recalling with clarity the time when he first laid his eyes on the rebel girl back on that moon. He did tell her those words, didn’t he? When she asked if he was going to kill her. 

“I—I didn’t— but—”

“How did she die?” she challenged him and he balked at her straightforwardness and courage to ask something like that. 

He hesitated, long enough to make her frown. “I— I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” she repeated, echoing his response, surprise written on her face. 

“I wasn’t there,” he hissed, curling his hands into fists to try and ground himself. He knew that Padme was alive when he attacked her, enough to forget her for a moment and focus on a duel with Kenobi. He was shocked to learn the truth of Padme’s passing from Palpatine’s lips when he finally regained his consciousness after his surgery, devastated and hardly believing his master’s words until he tried feeling his wife’s presence in the Force only to realize that his bond with her was severed and there was a gaping hole and ache in his heart, an unexplainable feeling of loss and dread of his mate being dead. Padme had died and he blamed himself for it. 

“That doesn’t prove that you killed her,” the omega softly spoke, drawing him back to the present. 

“I _attacked_ her,” he snarled. “That should be enough of a reason for you to stay away from me. I lost my control— I can lose it with you as well,” his words died on his lips when the girl reached for him and flickered her fingers over the durasteel of his mask.

“It takes a lot of self-reflection on someone’s part to realize one’s strength and weakness and to actually admit them out loud,” she murmured. “The fact that you’re cognizant enough that you can harm me is enough proof for me to know that you won’t—”

“You don’t know that,” he growled.

“But I do,” she insisted. “Otherwise you would have done so back on that moon. You lost your control then— I could feel it.”

“Not fully,” he argued. “You have yet to see me lose all of it,” regardless of his words, he leaned into the omega’s touch, trying to imagine the feel of her fingers on his skin. 

“Then what’s stopping you from trying?” she suddenly asked and he reeled his head away from her. “Now’s your chance to prove that you can still retain control even when you lose it.”

“What?”

“I want you to be… _you_ ,” she whispered. “Let yourself lose, prove that you are not the monster you see yourself as.”

He felt the urge to leave but the omega grabbed onto him, her eyes pleading. 

“I don’t have to prove myself to anyone,” he snarled. “Especially to you,” his words had a bite to them and he fully expected her to get insulted and throw him out again out of his own chamber. What he wasn’t expecting was for her to smile. 

“That’s a _lie_ ,” his eyes widened upon hearing her words. “And we both know it.”

There was a second or two of tense silence, their eyes boring into one another, hers mostly guessing where his were behind the opaque lenses of his mask, his thoughts wildly running through his head, weighing his options until he’d made up his mind. He stood to his full height, unclasping his cape and reaching for the latches of his helmet to his mask, undressing in a hurried frenzy as she watched him, quietly observing him from her spot in the center of the bed. Just like the time when he first brought the omega into this room, he cared less about the state of his suit as he dropped peace by peace on the floor, until he was nude and aching for the omega, her rich scent washing over him. His cock twitched and he grew to his impressive size right before her eyes and she licked her lips, her gaze darkening as she crawled to the edge of the bed, her face near inches away from his crotch. Her gaze flickered to his face asking for a silent permission until he stepped closer to her and she opened her lips to take him in, humming in delight as he wasted no time to thrust himself in. 

He groaned, his senses tingling as he felt her wet tongue swirling over his shaft, her lips closing around him and her small mouth trying to adjust to his size. A sight of such a pretty little omega kneeling on her knees and sucking him off never failed to amaze him, and just like the first time she’d ventured to please him with her mouth, his fingers soon entangled in her hair and he pushed her head down on his cock until she was struggling for breaths and gagging, her throat constricting and sending pleasured waves from the tip of his cock down to the base. He was planning on fully indulging himself this time and he made sure she knew this as he started moving his hips and thrusting himself in and out, watching with hooded eyes as his length disappeared past her lips and then reappeared seconds later coated in her saliva. She soon managed to adjust to the intrusion and let him do as he pleased, and he groaned again, savoring the feel of her hot and wet mouth tending to his cock.

“I won’t hold back this time,” he rasped, picking up his pace, his fingers tightening on her locks and pushing her further against his crotch, her face practically pressed against his skin. Her muffled moan was interrupted by his thrust deep within her throat and she gagged again, her fingers digging into his thigh as though that would help her to keep him still. It only made him speed up some more, proving a point he was trying to make that she had asked for it. That by asking him to lose his control she was only pushing her slim luck with him that he won’t hurt her. Because he easily could— the testament to that was him rough fucking her mouth and barely letting her breathe as he continued to block her airways with his thick cock. 

He was getting close and he groaned again, his balls filling heavy with his seed. He glanced down at her face, finding her eyes closed and he frowned, tugging on her hair to make her wince and let out a muffled groan. Her eyes snapped open to find him staring down at her, exactly how he wanted her to be.

“Eyes on me when I cum inside that pretty little mouth of yours, omega,” he ordered, emphasizing his point by the slap of his hips, his fingers keeping her head in place from the roughness of his movements. She would most likely be hoarse for days, but for once he didn’t care, his release fastly approaching as he felt himself shuddering, his movements becoming more sporadic.

“You will swallow _all_ of it,” he growled, his eyes never leaving hers. “Every— last— drop,” he emphasized his point with each rough jerk of his hips and then he was spilling himself inside her throat, his thick cum filling her mouth and making her choke on it, some of it escaping past the corners of her lips and dripping down her chin. He eased away enough to give her the ability to swallow, and she did so so audibly that he could hear it past her harsh breathing, her eyes watering as he finally allowed her to properly breathe. He remained inside her mouth long enough to let himself empty completely, ensured that she followed his order to swallow everything he’d given her and then he pulled out, still keeping a firm hold on her hair as he collected the drops of his seed on the corners of her lips with his other hand, and thrust his fingers inside her mouth, letting her lick them off clean.

“Good,” he praised with a nod of his head, letting go of her hair and rubbing his fingers along her face. “Are you satisfied now, omega?”

It took her a moment to respond to him, trying to work her sore muscles after an intense workout he just put her through. “Not yet,” she finally rasped and he was momentarily proud of how hoarse and needy she sounded, yet still possessing a sort of dignity when her eyes bore into his. “I want _more_.” 

“Did you not have enough of my cock yet?” he sneered, grabbing a hold of her chin to tilt up her head even more. “Still thirsty for some more of my cum?”

Her breath caught in her throat and she shamelessly moaned, her gaze filling with lust. “Yes,” she gasped. “Yes, _please_.”

“Please _what_?” he neared his face to hers, her thick scent hitting his senses, the rich smell of her arousal and her slick making his cock twitch and fill up with blood as he felt himself harden once more.

“I want—” she licked her lips, her gaze darting from his face to the not so subtle display of his erect member sticking out and throbbing with anticipation of what was to come. “I want you inside of me. I want you to— to fill me up full of your cum,” her cheeks were flushed, she still looked so _innocent_ even after everything he’d put her through. He suddenly felt like robbing her of that too— of the fake innocence she tried to play off. He could make her into lioness— a fierce one at that. 

“Is that so?” he growled. She had no time to respond because he was already flipping her on her stomach, positioning her body on the edge of the bed with her legs spread wide open and her ass curved up in the air, in the perfect alignment with his cock as he pressed against her, the tip of his member rubbing against the curves of her ass, teasing her. She tried to move and turn her body but he grabbed a hold of her arms and forced them behind her back, locking them in place and keeping her body pressed against the mattress with his body. 

“I don’t think so,” he rasped in her ear, her head barely turned to one side to allow her to breathe, the rest of her face squished into the bed. “You wouldn’t want to be facing me while I’m fucking you.”

“Why not?” she moaned, her body quivering under his, her slick dripping down her thighs and onto the floor beside the bed. 

“Wouldn’t want us both to be losing our controls,” he easily slipped past her slicked folds, his tip barely inside of her to make her loudly whine and buck her hips against him, only to stop her movements with the press of his knees against her legs. 

“ _Please_ ,” she moaned. “I need you.”

“I know,” he rasped, his self-control slipping. He pressed his chest against her back, his lips traveling up and down her shoulder, stopping right before the swell of her gland where he could see the marks he left on her skin. “You will be begging to mark me as soon as we start. And I can’t allow that.”

“I won’t,” she argued. “I know the risks—”

“Do you?” he allowed himself to slip even further into her wet entrance, feeling her shake under him from the strain he was putting on her body by teasing her like this. “You won’t be able to reason— or think for that matter. Once I knot you—”

“ _Yes_ ,” she hissed, trying to move her hips to make him lodge himself all the way in. “Please, knot me. Alpha, I need your knot. I need your cum. I need you—”

He didn’t let her finish her babbling. With one fluid motion he was deep within her, buried to the hilt, her muscles squeezing him and making him hiss. She felt so heavenly, her pussy still tight and so hot that it almost _burned_. The vision behind his eyes was darkening— all he needed was to let go. 

“Are you ready?” he wheezed into her ear and she choked back a sound, and then he finally let go and it crashed against him, his senses dulling and pulling him in into his most self-absorbed alpha state, taking away his rationality and sensibility, replacing it with the sole purpose of his existence. To breed the omega he was currently deeply buried in.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he groaned and then he started moving, pounding himself against the omega’s body, his hips slamming against her ass, the sound of skin on skin and his balls smacking her filling the room, as well as the harsh moans and breaths of the two bodies entwined with one another. “Feel so good,” he heard himself say, his voice sounding distant even to his own ears. “Going to fill you up with my cum— you’re going to be so full of me—”

“Yes,” the omega choked back. “Yes, _please_.”

He shifted above her, relieving some of the pressure he put on her body by raising himself up and adjusting the angle of his thrusts, using his other hand to slip under her stomach and curve her body even more so her ass was higher in the air, the angle proving to be a much better view as he trained his gaze down on her soaked pussy, her lips swallowing him whole. She was a soaking mess, her fluids only slicking everything and creating a slippery mess, his cock moving in and out with practiced ease, creating sloppy sounds with each thrust of his hips. 

“ _Harder_ ,” the omega pleaded and he growled. “I want you to fuck me harder— I want you to fuck me so hard I won’t be able to walk for days— gah—”

“Fucking filthy little thing,” he rasped, answering her pleas with the slam of his hips, the strength of which made it seem like the bed was moving— except it was bolted down to the ground. “I’ll make it so you won’t be able to walk for _weeks_.”

The omega whined and moaned, her body responding to his promise to make her immobile with another gush of slick. He felt himself swelling, his knot growing in size. He continued slamming his hips, his knot moving in and out of her lips while it grew in size, teasing her senses to know what was to come.

“You want it?” he rasped, watching himself swell up in size right outside her slicked folds.

“Yes—yes,” she moaned. “I want it—”

“You want it that bad?” he pushed in, his eyes briefly rolling in the back of his head as half of his knot was lodged between her folds, not fully all the way in but enough to give him a feeling of euphoria as intense pleasure washed over him. 

“ _Please_ ,” the omega cried, writhing under him. “I want you to knot me— breed me— please I want your cum—” she choked on her words when he pushed _all_ the way in, his knot barely sliding past her tight entrance until it locked in place. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” he hissed. “You’re going to be a good little omega and receive it all— I’m going to make you swell—”

The omega moaned, her walls still squeezing his cock. “Yes— yes, all of it— breed me alpha, fill me up with your children—”

He gasped, his cock throbbing, intense pressure working its way up from his balls to his knot, feeling like it was swelling to an impossible size. “You want me to fill you up with my seed— make you swell with my children?” the idea would have been ridiculous if he was in the right state of mind. It just so happened that he wasn’t. It only proved to be making him want to fill her up and make her swell not just with his seed but with his offsprings too. 

“ _Yes_ ,” the omega gasped. “Anything you can give me— anything at all. Please, alpha—”

He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. The pressure finally erupted and he felt himself spilling himself in her womb, his hot seed coloring her walls and filling her up to the brim. He collapsed on top of her, his face buried in her neck as he let himself be emptied, her soft mewling noises lulling him to sleep. 

He envisioned her being swelled with pregnancy, her stomach large and carrying his children. He reached for her flat stomach, his hand sliding under her body to splay the metal hand atop her burning skin. 

“I will keep you large and filled if that’s what you want,” he rasped. “I will give you as many children as you want.”

She moaned under him, trying to twist her neck to find his lips and he let her, their mouth colliding with one another in a haphazard kiss, sloppy and wet with saliva. She ended it first, her lidded eyes finding his.

“Please make me yours,” she softly pleaded. “I want to mate with you.”

He groaned, his mind fuzzy with the after-effect of his release and in the process of knotting her, his cum continuing to pump into her womb. He told her something beforehand, the reason he placed her in such a position under him. He couldn’t remember what it was. Instead he found her eyes boring into the spot by his neck, her teeth sharp and bared. She couldn’t reach him like this— not until after he dislodged from her and his knot loosened. He thought he’d let her, thought it’d be alright. There was no harm in letting them mate—

An insistent beeping slithered itself through the haze in his mind and he frowned. He recognized that sound. It sounded close— and it was getting louder and louder until his eyes snapped away from the omega and he looked down to the ground, to see his comlink beeping still strapped to the belt of his suit. How long it was beeping he didn’t know— he cursed, his senses instantly sharpening and he tapped into the Force. He didn’t like what he found.

“Keep quiet,” he told the omega, reaching for the comlink through the Force and activating it.

“My Lord,” it was Ozzel’s voice and it sounded panicked. “I’ve been trying to reach you for the past hour—” 

Vader’s gut twisted into an unpleasant feeling. Had it really been an hour since he entered the omega’s nest? Or was it longer? He couldn’t recall with clear detail, everything was… _twisted_. 

“What is it?” he didn’t bother with altering his voice and Ozzel seemed to be caught in surprise until Vader snapped at him. 

“The Emperor is requesting your immediate presence,” the Admiral informed. 

Vader’s face twisted and he shifted in his spot, earning a muffled moan from the omega still trapped under his body. He instantly clamped his hand over her mouth.

“Tell the Emperor I will contact him within the next hour,” he wasn’t sure how long had passed since he knotted with omega, but he was hoping to give himself enough time to dress and get his emotions under control before he allowed the conversation with his master to happen. Even if it was through the hologram, he knew Palpatine could still sense Vader’s emotions, and right now he was in no desired position to have any contact with his master. 

“I’m afraid you misunderstood, sir,” Ozzel’s voice dropped. “The Emperor is here— on _Devastator_.” 

Vader could have sworn his heart stopped beating. “ _What_?” 

The omega shifted under him, her own senses slowly returning as she muffled her protests for him to move his hand away. Vader paid her no mind.

“Apologies, My Lord,” Ozzel quickly offered. “The Emperor’s presence was… unexpected. He had failed to notify us of his arrival—”

Vader stopped listening to the Admiral’s excuses, his mind whirling with every possibility as to why the Emperor decided to drop by unannounced. His gaze flickered down to the annoyed omega, her own eyes shooting him a glare of displeasure of being silenced. Palpatine couldn’t know about the girl— Vader was being careful. He thought he was. He ensured his emotions and feelings were hidden when he was forced to lie to Palpatine about her when Tarkin told Palpatine of the girl— the omega— at the meeting. It had suddenly occurred to him that there was a highly likely chance that Palpatine knew. 

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for more angst but we'll be getting back to the plot. I hope you enjoyed it. Leave your comments, I love reading them :)


	16. A Test

“What is it?” 

Your voice sounded weak and muffled, your senses still tingling and not quite right after ever-so-slowly returning from your omega-induced state. You were still connected with Vader, felt yourself being pumped with his seed, felt full and sated and _stretched_ with his knot, your body pressed against the mattress under his weight. You should have felt happy that the alpha stayed with you through the remains of your heat, should have been relieved that he finally knotted you because _he_ wanted it too, should have felt safe and secure under the comforting weight of his body pressing into you while you two were locked in with his knot. Instead, you felt something akin to dread and panic settling in, these projections of emotions certainly not your own and you frowned, looking up from your position to find that Vader was ignoring you _completely_ , his own face turned away and his gaze locked onto something you couldn’t see. You thought you heard his voice and someone else’s— but you couldn’t recall the conversation nor the words. Something must have happened to cause Vader to be so _stiff_ and immobile, his body tensing and his face barely betraying any emotion. 

“Alpha?” you called out, trying to twist your body around but you physically _couldn’t_ . His knot nor the position of his body would allow it so you had to twist your neck and tilt your head to fully see him. He was _actively_ ignoring you and you felt a spike of annoyance shooting through you. 

“ _Vader_ ,” that finally gained his attention as he snapped his face back down to yours, his eyes cold and that glowing light of amber back in them that you so much despised. It made him look like he was inhuman, his skin pale in comparison to the fire in his eyes. You felt a cold shudder passing through you. You forced your next words out despite almost knowing that he wouldn’t indulge in answering any of them. “What is it? Did something happen?”

“Nothing to concern yourself with,” he replied almost automatically and you frowned, your next words on the tip of your tongue until he tried to pull out, which forced the knot to tug inside your folds and you both simultaneously let out a mixture of sounds— yours more like a strangled moan and his a growl mixed with a hiss. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” you had a feeling he didn’t mean to say it out loud, his frustration evident on his face. 

“What are you doing?” you demanded, the spike of pleasure that shot through you long forgotten as you watched Vader. 

Instead of replying he tried the motion again, forcing your body to jump and push closer to his, your ass snuggly pressed against his pelvis. It created another ripple of pleasure through the contact, your breath catching in your throat when you felt Vader’s cock throb deep inside you and then you were squeezing your muscles around him without meaning to, earning another deep growl from his throat. 

“ _Stop that_ ,” he hissed, anger evident in the tone of his voice.

“You can’t just pull out when we’re locked like that,” you snapped at him.

“ _I know that_ ,” he snapped back. 

“Then why would you—”

“I need to leave,” he cut you off. “ _Immediately_.”

“ _What_ ?” you weren't expecting that. “You’re going to leave? _Again_?”

“I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place,” his reply sounded just like the first time, when he brought you to this planet and then left you alone. You suddenly grew angry, tired of being tossed around like a mere used toy.

“Then why did you come back?”

“I already told you _why_.” 

“No,” you tried twisting your body again, and this time your movements were seized by the Force itself, preventing further unnecessary movements that would have caused more friction between your bodies. “You stayed _after_ that,” you were referring to the days spent after you forced him out of his own room, until you found him back here after being woken up from your nightmare. “You didn’t leave.”

“And I realized that was a mistake on my part,” he growled and you stilled, barely believing that you heard his words right.

“A _mistake_ ?” you hissed when you finally recovered from your initial shock. “A mistake— did you realize this _before_ or _after_ you fucked me?”

“This isn’t about you,” he hissed, his words only angering you some more. 

“How is this _not_ about me?” you screamed at him— or at least _tried_ to. Your position offered you less than dignified appearance being pressed against the bed with your legs spread widely apart and Vader positioned between them. It only made you that much more angrier that you couldn’t move. “You fucked me. You’re still inside me—”

“You _asked_ me to stay,” he roared, his patience finally snapping and you felt an unmistakable ripple of his Force shattering through the place. “You asked me to fuck you— you _begged_ for it.”

“I’m not the one with a knot buried to the hilt— I’m the one on the _receiving_ end of it,” you screamed at him and then you squeezed your muscles again, tightly and consistently, just to prove your point.

“ _Enough_ ,” he roared but you continued, too angry to stop and too stimulated to not _want_ to stop, because regardless of how angry you were, the pleasure you were receiving from squeezing your muscles around him was too good to make you clearly think of the consequences of your actions. 

Vader must have realized the same thing because his eyes dilated and he stuttered, his body shaking above you. “Stop that,” it didn’t sound as menacing as the first time he’d said it. 

“Admit it,” you continued, noticing with a sort of glee that was so uncharacteristic of you, that Vader was taking more shallow breaths mixed with gasps, his metallic fingers digging into your hips to keep you in place like he was trying to hold you from moving. Except it wasn’t you who was making your body rock and move with slow movements, it was Vader as he started to slam his hips against your ass, his knot still tightly wedged deep within you.

“You’re making it worse,” his voice was hoarse, almost pleading. “You need to stop.”

“You’re the one moving,” you reminded him, your words ending with a soft moan. “Admit it— you wanted to fuck me _too_. You stayed because you knew there was a chance—”

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” his voice was labored and low and he desperately tried to stop himself from thrusting but couldn’t, his movements only increasing as you both felt the exquisite pleasure of his large knot moving within you. “You don’t know the _consequences—_ ”

“What consequences?” you were only half listening to him— your other half was too focused on ensuring he wouldn’t stop. 

“I have to— _fuck—_ ” he hissed as he sped up his movements some more. Your body’s senses were still stimulated from your earlier orgasm to quickly build up another one and you audibly moaned, forgetting why you were so angry at Vader just some moments prior. 

“Don’t stop,” you pleaded with him. “Don’t stop— _please_.”

Vader’s only response was a groan, his face twisted in pleasure mixed with agony, his hips slamming into you with abandon until you felt yourself shattering into million pieces, your release so sudden and so sharp that it had taken you by surprise and you were only mildly aware of Vader’s own drawn out moan, his hips stuttering and stilling as you felt him awarding you with more of his seed. You stayed like that for a moment, neither of you moving, each of you trying to catch your breath. 

You heard what sounded like swear from Vader’s lips once you were fully cognizant of your surroundings once again. He sounded angry— he was before— but now it was more than just anger. Both his eyes and his movements conveyed that something was indeed wrong, but before you could fully comprehend the seriousness of your situation, Vader was pulling out. You hadn’t even realized that his knot had finally loosened, which earned a surprised but pathetic little whine from your lips at the loss of him. It took you a moment to get yourself up on your shaky arms and flip over, surprised to find how quick Vader could dress when most of his suit was already on. 

“What consequences?” you called out to him once you remembered your earlier conversation. Your question did not stop his movements, and it appeared that he was actively ignoring you again. You frowned, watching as the last pieces of his armor fell in place, his mask and helmet going on last. He was fully intending on leaving without explaining himself. You weren’t going to let him. 

“Vader,” you stood up from the bed, your legs still shaky but you managed to get to him before he reached the door, latching onto his cape and stopping his movements. You immediately realized that was the wrong thing to do when you felt the invisible strands of the Force surrounding you and wrapping their tendrils around your wrists, forcing you to let go of Vader. 

“You will remain here until my return,” he didn’t even bother turning around, his modulated voice thick with irritation and anger. “You will be notified if there was a change in plans.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” you knew you were pushing it but you couldn’t stop thinking that something was wrong. “What’s happening? Something _did_ happen, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t—”

“I wouldn’t _what_?” he snarled and you took a step back when he whirled around. “I wouldn’t have left? Would have stayed here and continued to fuck you to a senseless state? You think I have nothing better to do than cave to your demands?”

You opened your mouth to try and inject an answer but Vader continued, his tone becoming more insidious and menacing with each spoken word. 

“I have no time nor patience for this,” he hissed. “You are forgetting who I am, omega. Perhaps I should remind you of that,” he was lifting his hand as if in warning but your focus was on the lenses of his mask.

“Is this about what I said?” you tried to take a step forward only for your movements to be seized by the Force. “About what I did? Are you angry because—”

“It’s not about _you_ ,” he snarled. “Not everything is _about_ you.”

“Then why won’t you tell me—”

“ _Enough_.”

The slam of his power came out of nowhere and you tumbled backwards, expecting to hit the ground only for your body to be levitated in the air and slammed down on top of the bed, leaving you breathless from sheer surprise of the attack. When you finally came about and lifted your head, you found that you were all alone in the room and there was no sign of Vader. 

He left you all alone once again. 

___

“You disappoint me, Lord Vader,” the insidious voice of Palpatine could be heard even over the audible wheezing of Vader’s damaged respirator as the latter remained in the kneeling position on the floor not far off from the Emperor. It took every ounce of Vader’s strength to remain kneeling before his master without collapsing— and even more so ensuring that his thoughts were well shielded from the ever seeking mind of Palpatine. It was proving to be much difficult considering the fact that Vader had spent the last half hour being subjected to Palpatine’s physical torture, coupled with the agonizing mental abuse that had taken tremendous toll on Vader’s state of mind. 

“I was hoping your _unexplainable_ absence was attributed to you finding more information on the location on the rebel’s base,” Palpatine continued, barely paying any mind to his apprentice as he gazed out the viewport into the bleak vacuum space of stars beyond the _Devastator_ . “Yet I find that was not the case. Instead, I was kept waiting for _hours_ until your return only to be given a pathetic excuse as to why you had taken a liberty upon yourself to leave your post and your ship in the hands of your Admiral while _lying_ to me about your whereabouts.” 

It took a few labored wheezes for Vader to finally get his reply out. “That was not my intention, my master.”

“Then what was?” Palpatine hissed, whirling around to glare at Vader’s kneeling form. “You have neither answers nor outcomes of your search for the rebels. I’m growing tired of waiting. The Rebellion is growing more powerful each day you fail to deliver me the heads of their Generals. I would not have the Empire be a laughing stock in the eyes of the rest of the galaxy. I would not have them question _my_ power.” 

“I will personally ensure that won’t happen,” Vader finally lifted his head to find Palpatine’s eyes on him, the sickly amber glowing in the dark through the Sith robe over his master’s features. 

“You will, won’t you,” Palpatine rasped. “You’ve disappointed me far too many times in the recent months. I won’t tolerate another failure.”

“Yes, master,” Vader bowed his head once more, silently gritting his teeth as he fought to keep his anger and hate at bay. 

Vader knew Palpatine was done with unleashing his anger on him— after all, Palpatine had already done more damage than he normally did. There were repeated warnings flashing in front of the HUD in the lenses of Vader’s mask that told him more than enough about his suit’s malfunctions. He desperately needed to make a trip to the medical wing to get the sensors repaired and for his respirator to be fixed before he collapsed from lack of oxygen. He’d worry about the pain later— once Palpatine was finally out of Vader’s hair and heading back to Coruscant. He desperately needed all the time he could get to get his emotions under control and to revert his pain into a useful tool for revenge. For that he needed peace and quiet in the confines of his hyperbaric chamber without having to worry about constantly having his mental shields up to keep Palpatine out of Vader’s mind. The last thing he needed at the moment was to create more unnecessary problems if his master was to learn the truth. 

“We cannot waste any more time,” Palpatine signaled for Vader to rise and he did so without ever showing the great effort it took for him to stay still and not wobble on the spot. His whole body _hurt_ , his joints aching and screaming for him to lie down and take it easy. Vader could not afford to show any more weakness to his master so he gritted his teeth through pain and lightheadedness and listened to Palpatine talk. 

“I’ve received unsettling news of an Imperial pilot defecting from Galen Erso’s own facility on Eadu,” Vader snapped his head upon hearing the news with Palpatine watching him from afar. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

It was a rhetorical question. Vader knew _exactly_ what that meant. It meant that time was running out and Palpatine was growing impatient while waiting for the Death Star to be finished building. A project that took close to two decades to be built. One that Vader despised but stood by idly while letting his master handle the ropes of the project. If the Imperial pilot truly defected then that could only mean one thing.

“We cannot afford for the rebels to get a hold of him,” Palpatine spat. “We’ve kept the Death Star a secret for decades— that secret _must_ remain hidden until the battle station is complete.”

“You want me to hunt down the defected pilot?” Vader questioned. 

Palpatine shot him a dissatisfied look. “No. I’ve already taken the measures of my own to handle that while you were _gone_ ,” Vader suppressed the shudder at his master’s tone but remained silent. 

“I want you to pay a visit to the Death Star,” Palpatine continued. “The morale of the men must be... _uplifted_ to ensure the deadlines are met. I’m sure you can handle that,” he questioned, without truly caring for what Vader thought on the matter. He was simply sending him to the Death Star to ensure that Palpatine’s demands were met with the hidden threat of what would happen should the Death Star’s full operation be delayed again. 

“Of course, my master,” Vader bowed his head again. “I will leave at once.”

He was almost at the door when Palpatine’s next words stopped him in his tracks. “Where’s the girl now?”

Vader’s insides froze and if his breathing wasn’t regulated by the machines he would not be breathing at the moment. He turned around. “The girl?”

“Do not feign ignorance with me,” Palpatine hissed, his eyes flashing with anger which almost forced Vader to take a step back. He could not afford to receive more of his master’s Sith lightning as his punishment. “The _omega—_ where is she?”

It took a moment for Vader to gather his emotions under control. There was no point in lying to Palpatine and denying to him that he’d killed the omega like he told him the first time he was asked about her. Palpatine must have seen her in his memories when Vader’s guard was down.

“You’ve taken her to Mustafar,” Palpatine answered his own question, his lips thinning into a hideous grin showing his decaying teeth. “You’ve kept her there this whole time.”

“Yes,” Vader forced the word out, anticipating another backlash from his master. Instead, he was met with a chilling sound of Palpatine’s cackling. 

“You couldn’t resist,” Palpatine hissed. “Couldn't help your _instincts_ ,” he spat the last word out like it was a venom. 

Vader remained silent.

“Did you fuck her?”

For times like these Vader was grateful that he wore a mask that hid his face. Otherwise he could only imagine what his expression would be like as he stared at Palpatine from across the room. 

“Yes,” there was no denying this either. He had to give his master _something_ to ensure the rest remained a secret. Which meant he had to open up some of his mind to Palpatine’s probing search through their bond, letting his master seek out the truth for himself. He laughed when he found it. 

“Has it truly been that long since you’ve felt another being’s touch?” Palpatine gloated, his eyes shining as he smirked at his apprentice, goading suppressed emotions out of him. “Since… before your wife’s death, hasn’t it?”

Vader bit down on his tongue, forcing himself to stay still. The only indication of his true feelings was the spark of anger and hate through the joined bond between the master and apprentice which Palpatine quickly picked up on. 

“I thought your apprenticeship in the Dark Side would eradicate these _unnecessary_ urges from your system,” Palpatine sighed with a dramatic sound. “Perhaps I was wrong. You are still weak-minded to women of _your_ kind. Look at what happened with the last two you’ve been in contact with.”

Still, Vader remained still and silent, denying Palpatine the satisfaction that his words were affecting him in any way. He wouldn’t fall for his master’s trick and reveal to him what Palpatine clearly couldn’t see. Vader’s shields were still up and they were working, otherwise Palpatine wouldn’t have asked the next question. 

“Did you knot her?” 

It took everything out of Vader to cloud his thoughts in pure darkness, shielding his most inner thoughts of the omega in question.

“ _No_.”

The two remained staring at each other, the air thick with tension. Palpatine was the first to break the silence.

“ _I see_.”

It was alarming to not be able to feel his master’s emotions behind the words but Vader was forced to empty his doubts and focus on the present and the _now_. If he failed this test it would most certainly ensure the omega’s death, he was certain of it. 

“You are to banish her existence out of your thoughts,” Palpatine declared. “I cannot afford you to be distracted while we are facing the unknown outcomes of the future of our Empire.”

“Yes, my master.”

“I would order you to kill her but we both know you’re incapable of doing that— unless of course you’re in the fit of rage,” Palpatine’s lips thinned into a grin again, reminding Vader all too well of the incident he spoke of. When Vader lost his control and choked his pregnant wife, thus ensuring her death. Vader couldn’t hide his emotions this time around, his feelings of grief and suffering resurfacing through the shared bond. Exactly what Palpatine wanted. 

“Perhaps the troopers can—”

“She is a nobody,” Vader finally spoke, his words veiled with disgust and menace. He let his mind wander to the darkest places of his existence, coating himself in the Dark Side, ensuring his words rang with truth. “She means nothing to me. A mere plaything.”

“A _weakness_ ,” Palpatine hissed. “You are to be rid of her when you return to Mustafar. By any means necessary.”

“Of course, my master.”

“Let this be a reminder to you,” Palpatine turned away from him. “Don’t let this be a repeat of what happened in the past. Otherwise I would be forced to take matters into my own hands. And we both know the outcome of _that_.”

It was a palpable threat. Vader understood it with clarity. The omega had to be removed from his existence. And if he failed his master’s orders again, he would doom the omega’s life as well as his own. He couldn’t afford that. He’d already made a mistake by staying with her— she was already affecting his mind and his actions with her presence in his life. The only option was to remove her altogether, without killing her. He knew _exactly_ what he had to do. 

But first, he had a visit to pay to the Death Star. Palpatine’s orders were clear.

He would deal with the omega when he returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this had taken me a bit longer to post. I've been somewhat slow with my writing. Anyways, now we're getting close to the canon part of the story :) This is happening right before the Rogue One. I adjusted a few timeline aspects of the story but for the most part it should be going according to the storyline of the movie. Hope you enjoyed it!


	17. A Repeat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day everyone xoxo  
> Hopefully you all will have an amazing weekend and if you don't want to feel sad or disappointed before the holiday then don't read this :p cause you're gonna hate me.  
> I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not :3

It had been at least three weeks. It’s not like you were counting, but you were. Each day you spent waiting for Vader to come back meant each more day you were slowly losing your mind. You would be lying to yourself if you didn’t admit that you earnestly missed Vader’s presence— alpha’s touch. And it didn’t help that you were completely alone in the vast fortress amidst the fiery planet. You weren’t allowed to leave your room unless it was under strict watch of the droids assigned to your “care”. You knew Vader was able to keep tabs on you by communicating with the droids, yet you were unable to learn anything from them when you asked of Vader’s whereabouts. They were always silent when you asked them and you finally stopped after the first week.

Most of your time you had spent in the room, occupied with your own thoughts. You weren’t allowed access to the datapads nor any sort of entertainment to occupy your mind. It was a precaution— you were still treated as though you were an enemy, a prisoner, but now with a much bigger “cell” and at least some comfort and better food. You often wondered what would happen when Vader returned. He’d never given you a clear indication of what his intentions were towards you. You understood the need for sex— it was ingrained in both his and yours system any time you were in heat. Neither of you were able to stop and neither of you seemed to want to stop. It seemed to happen on a whim.

But besides that primal part of your existence, you weren’t sure what you would classify your relationship with Vader. You weren’t even sure if you could call whatever was happening between you two a  _ relationship _ . He was an enigma, a secret with layers that’d take years to peel off for you to get to know him. He’d only shared a portion of himself, which seemed significant in that moment, but then you still didn’t know anything else about him. It was almost unfair how much he knew about you. You were like an open book to him and with his powers as a mind reader it was more of a disadvantage that he could always slip through your mind and find the answers for himself. 

You knew whatever was happening between the two of you wouldn’t last long. You had a feeling that whatever caused the reason for his abrupt leave had everything to do with you, regardless of what Vader told you. You had every reason to believe that his unexpected appearance back at Mustafar had caused him some problems. That was the only thing that could explain his reaction to your questions and the abrupt change in his demeanor towards you. Not that you expected him to change but at least you’d seen his softer side and knew he was capable of projecting some tender feelings towards you, even if he mostly acted like that while in alpha state of mind. 

Still, you were worried and you couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong. That feeling intensified over the next few weeks that you had grown sick, convinced it was your nerves that caused you to feel tired and sick to your stomach. That sickness soon turned into frequent nausea and occasional vomiting and by the fifth time the vomiting forced you to kneel on the floor of the fresher you realized with a sinking feeling that perhaps you weren’t sick at all. You couldn’t know for sure, you’ve never encountered another omega in such a position and you didn’t know all the symptoms to be certain of what you were feeling was true. But you couldn’t deny all the main symptoms of your condition that pointed to the only thing that made sense. You were pregnant. 

You weren’t sure how to react at first. Happiness wasn’t the word you’d use to describe the feeling of jitteriness and nervousness that settled over you once the idea of pregnancy settled in your mind. You were scared and rightfully so. You never intended to bring in another being of your kind into this messed up world and certainly never imagined in your mind that it would be Darth Vader’s child you’d be carrying. It was already bad enough that your kind was prosecuted— having a little one would complicate things even more. Not to mention that Vader never showed any intention of becoming a father. That wasn’t even discussed— this wasn’t supposed to happen in the first place. None of it was— you weren’t even supposed to have sex with him. 

You tricked him to knot you the first time back on the moon but you were lucky that nothing happened then. That was your first time you’d ever been free from suppressants and your body hadn’t caught up with your cycle then. This time was different— you should have considered the risks when you went into heat. You were off suppressants long enough on Tarkin’s ship long before you went into heat, long enough for your body’s system to wear off the remaining effects of the suppressants and make you fertile. And you knew what the chances were of omega becoming pregnant when in heat— your parents engraved that knowledge in you enough times for you to remember long after they passed. And you’d forgotten. You begged Vader to knot you, begged him to breed you while your emotions were running high and your body was craving the release and you had  _ forgotten _ . 

_ Shit _ .

There was nothing you could do now. You couldn’t reverse the time, you could only look at the future. And at the moment the future looked as bleak as you felt. You weren’t sure how Vader would react, you weren’t even sure if you’d have the nerve to tell him. Judging by what happened before he left you weren’t even sure he’d be in the mood to hear you out. Perhaps he’d finally snap and kill you— get rid of the evidence before it caught up to him. But you knew he wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t kill you— he’d already proved that many times before. His alpha would not let him hurt you. Especially now since you were carrying his child. 

The thought of that made your body do a weird thing where your heart jumped in your chest and your senses tingle with excitement. Perhaps you weren’t as terrified as you initially thought. If you knew anything from watching your parents when you were younger was that omega’s pregnancy was sacred— and it created an irreversible bond between the mother and the child. You also knew how much it affected the alpha— their need to protect their omega and the unborn child intensified even more. You couldn’t help but visualize what it’d do to Vader if he found out the truth. Would he drop the pretense and take full responsibility for his actions and accept the child? You couldn’t imagine him  _ not _ to. He’d already shown all the tendencies of his protective and possessive nature to you in the form of the mark on your neck. He  _ marked _ you, initiated the first step of the bonding process. It was up to you to finish it, if only he’d let you. 

You stood in front of the mirror, running your hands up and down your flat stomach as you envisioned yourself becoming full and swollen in the later stages of pregnancy. In your mind you’d already accepted the inevitable of what happened— now your mind was catching up with the idea of what the next few months would look like while you carried the child to full term. You envisioned your breasts growing fuller with milk, knowing (or perhaps just your instinct telling you) how much alphas enjoyed helping their mates relieve the pressure by sucking on them and lapping at the milk. You crooned just thinking of the time when Vader’s lips were full with your breasts, sucking on the tender spots of your stiff peaks. You couldn’t help but grow aroused just remembering that moment and soon you were touching yourself, trying to relieve the growing pressure forming somewhere below your stomach. 

You should have known the pregnancy would also affect you mentally— you were already too far excited to want to have sex with Vader outside your moments of heat. You could only imagine how much more needy and desperate you’d become for alpha’s touch— your hormones were already raging and you were soaking wet between your thighs, your fingers deftly working at pleasing your drenched folds. You moaned right then, closed your eyes and continued to pump yourself with fingers, your pants hanging past your ankles as you stood leaning against the sink, trying to recreate the memory of Vader’s cock pumping you instead of your fingers. Nothing could ever replace the feel of Vader’s thickness ravaging you so you let out another desperate whine, moving your hips to meet the rapid movements of your hand. You were growing closer— your senses were so dulled and so focused on your body that you failed to notice the ominous breathing right outside your room until it was too late.

Because when you finally registered the sound as Vader’s respirator, he was already activating the door to the fresher to open and you had no time to withdraw your hand nor to fix your appearance, your pants still hanging loose and your breathing ragged— and then you were face to face (or face to mask) with him, your eyes wide as you stared at him in horror mixed with another wave of pleasure washing over you and it was the last straw to your imagination as you shamelessly let out a choked moan and let yourself loose, sinfully coating your hand with your fluids as you stood cumming in front of him, unable to stop yourself nor the spasm of your hips.

It was mortifying, having him see you like this, completely spent and drenched with your own release, your cheeks flushed with deep crimson as you tried catching your breath. It was more humiliating somehow for him to catch you in the act, even though he’d seen you many times before completely naked and exposed to his eyes. Somehow though  _ this _ was different, him just standing there and not touching you was different. You thought you might have heard a low growl from him, might have seen a jerk of his hand as though he was fighting with himself to stop himself from touching you, but everything was still jumbled inside your mind while you recovered from your orgasm so you couldn’t be sure. 

He’d said something but you couldn’t hear him, your ears ringing. He disappeared from your view but you knew he was still in the room, your senses slowly returning that you could at least hear his respirator’s cycle. It took you a moment to gather yourself, your movements slow and lazy while your mind replayed the moment of him stumbling on you with precise clarity. You couldn’t help but feel childish and somehow ashamed of what he’d witnessed, berating yourself over and over again for your foolishness as you washed the product of your release from your hands in the sink, trying not to think of the wetness as you zipped up your pants, sparing a glance in the mirror to see yourself still blushing. You couldn’t hide in here forever even if you wanted to disappear from the face of the world, so with great reluctance you finally made it out of the fresher to find Vader waiting for you.

“I’m sorry,” you blurted out, hastily trying to rectify the awkwardness. “I wasn’t expecting you to return so abruptly— I wasn’t even sure  _ when _ you’d return— did you just get back? I mean— how are you?” you were rambling, your words stumbling out of your mouth, making you flush with another wave of embarrassment. 

“We’re leaving,” his cold response only made you feel like you were suddenly drenched with ice cold water. 

“ _ Leaving _ ?” you repeated. “Leaving  _ where _ ? What—”

“Come,” he didn’t wait for your response, already leaving the room and signaling for you to follow. You were too stunned from lack of any recognizable emotion from him to question him, until you were running after him, trying to catch up to his large strides as he led you through the many corridors of the dark fortress. 

“Where are we going?” you tried again. “I haven’t heard from you in over three weeks. Where have you been—” you were cut off with an impatient sound resonating from his mask, a warning in the form of a growl that told you he was in no mood for small talks. It only made you more concerned as you fell silent, trying to absorb his sudden appearance and his reluctance to tell you what was going on. Your confusion only grew when he led you to the same hangar you were first brought in upon landing on this fortress. The ship was already there, waiting.

“Where are you taking me?” you asked with a higher pitched voice, your confusion turning into mild panic. “What’s happening—”

“Get inside,” he barked his order, practically shoving you inside and forcing you to sit in the co-pilot’s chair as he sat down in the pilot’s chair next to you, taking controls of the ship and wasting no time as he lift the shuttle off the ground and took off into the raging atmosphere of the planet. It was early morning, and the smoke from the fires of lava obscured the landscape below you, but not enough to hide the overall bleakness of Mustafar. Vader had gone straight out into the upper levels of the atmosphere and as soon as you were cleared for the jump, he lunged the ship into hyperspace. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” you finally asked when the silence stretched for many tense minutes when Vader still refused to talk to you. 

“The Emperor is aware of your existence,” he answered but that was not the answer you were expecting from him. 

“The Emperor?” your voice came out in a squeak. You remembered seeing the bruises on his body the last time he’d told you about the Emperor. You suddenly grew sick, your gaze trailing over Vader’s suit, as though you could make out the damage that laid beyond it. He looked as normal as any other time you’d seen him, his impenetrable armor disguising his disfigurement and scarring. “Did something happen then? Did he do something to you—”

“We cannot be seeing one another ever again,” he continued, disregarding your questions and making you stop and gape at him with wide eyes. 

“ _ What _ ?” you choked. “What do you mean?”

“This was a mistake to begin with,” there it was, him mentioning your relation with one another— your  _ connection— _ was a mistake. 

“You know that’s not true,” you spoke with a higher tone, turning your body fully around so you could face him, while he remained staring straight ahead of him. “You can’t call this a mistake when you know there’s something more to this—”

“It’s just sex,” he cut you off with a harsh tone. “It wasn’t meant to be anything more than that.”

“That’s a  _ lie _ ,” you cried out. “Are you trying to convince yourself or me? Because that’s not working.”

He finally turned his head your way, his gaze hidden behind the lenses of his mask. You wished you could see his face. 

“It’s the truth,” you suddenly hated his modulated tone, how distant and harsh it made him sound while you knew his organic voice carried much more inflection that his artificial one would ever pick up on. “The only reason we were ever attracted to one another was because of our inner instincts. You’re an omega and I’m the alpha and that’s that. The sex was inevitable. It’s what makes our kind so vulnerable to the presence of others like us. There are no feelings behind our actions.”

You shook your head. “I don’t believe this.”

And you couldn’t. How could he sit there and tell you there was nothing more besides the action of sex while you were mere inches away from him, pregnant with his child? How could he knot you without feeling  _ something _ ? 

“You don’t have to,” he turned his gaze away. “You won’t remember any of this when I’m done with you.”

You snapped your head at that. “ _ What _ ? Are you planning to erase my memories  _ again _ ?” 

“It’s the only way to ensure you won’t cross my path ever again,” he replied.

You stared at him, your thoughts whirling inside your mind. You felt like screaming at him. You felt like wanting to hurt him, to leave your marks on him for making you go through this all over again. You felt like telling him about your pregnancy, more than anything. Perhaps he’d reconsider his decision to go through with erasing your memories about him. You found you couldn't bring yourself to tell him, not when you felt the rising wall between the two of you. You glanced down to your lap, your eyes trained on your stomach. 

“If you’re really going to erase my memories… won’t you at least tell me how you feel about me?” you softly asked. When he remained silent, you continued. “I’ve grown attached to you,” you admitted. “I can’t even imagine spending my time with anyone else after you. I think I’ve started to like you—”

“I don’t feel anything for you,” he cut you off and you felt yourself breaking, your chest tightening when you felt your emotions rising and threatening to spill in the form of tears. 

“You marked me,” your voice was just a whisper, a lump in your throat preventing you from speaking without bursting into tears. “You told me you wanted me… you said that was the truth.”

“You shouldn’t believe everything I’ve ever told you,” you heard him say. “I’m a Sith first and foremost. It’s the Sith’s way of deceiving and achieving their most inner desires with any means necessary— including deception.” 

You bit back a cry that threatened to spill past your lips. He was hurting you— you were hurting. Suddenly the significance of his words hit you and you startled, looking up at him. 

“Where are you taking me?” when he refused to reply, your anxiety only grew and you were outright panicking. “Are you taking me back to the Rebellion?”

“The Rebellion will soon be doomed,” he replied with a sinister tone. “You won’t be going back to them.”

“Then  _ where _ ?” you cried. “To some forgotten Imperial cell where you can just deposit me and forget about me?”

“That won’t be your fate either,” he replied just as a signal went off on the console, signaling you were about to exit the hyperspace. You tensed, watching with held breath as the ship lurched out of hyperspace and Vader navigated the ship to an unknown planet that was in front of your view. You didn’t recognize the location, nor did you have the coordinates to even know in which part of the galaxy you were in. If it had taken you minutes to travel from Mustafar to this region, you at least knew you were in the Outer Rim of the galaxy or even further. Far enough away from the Core Worlds. 

“What is this?” you called out, despite knowing Vader won’t respond to you. He didn’t, just as you suspected, instead concentrating on navigating the ship through the planet’s atmosphere. It looked like a primitive land, with many rolling hills and lakes and farmland. You could briefly make out some small settlements here and there but besides that nothing that indicated that this planet was ever touched by either the Alliance or the Imperial troops. 

He landed the ship on the flat surface, not far off from the smaller settlement. You looked up in surprise when he unstrapped from the seat and did the same with your own restraints, signaling for you to follow him. You almost didn’t, but then remembered the alternative of him using his power on you, so you decided it was better using your own willingness to trail after him. You watched his back as you followed his footsteps, him marching ahead of you through the greenery. It was a vast change from the many weeks being confined to the metal fortress on Mustafar. At least this planet seemed to possess mild climate and fresh air with soft rays of sun warming up your skin. It was early morning here too and it was still quiet and bare when you finally reached the outskirts of the settlement to stop by the hut. 

Vader turned around, signaling behind him. “Your new home,” he gestured for you to walk up to the front door. You refused, still staring at him like this was all a bad joke. You heard him let out an irritated sigh and then he entered the hut before using the Force to bring you along with him. You didn’t even struggle, still clouded in your own trance. Your gaze was met with the simple outlay of the small hut, sparsely furnished with everything you needed to survive. 

“I took it upon myself to ensure you had everything you needed,” it was like he was reading your mind, and perhaps he did. “You won’t require much here— the people here are kind enough to supply you with everything else.”

“Where am I?” you turned around to face him. 

“I can’t tell you that,” he did not belong here, not with the sleek glint of his polished suit amidst the primitive surroundings. He had every intention to just leave you here, all alone amidst the unfamiliar land with strangers. 

You took a step closer to him, despite feeling anger towards him. “I don’t want to be here. You can’t just leave me here—”

“I  _ can _ and I  _ will _ ,” he cut you off.

“You can’t just dictate how to live my life,” you cried out, balling your hands into fists and biting your lip. That didn’t help the tears that still streamed down your cheeks. 

“The alternative for you is much worse,” he replied and took a step closer to you. “The Emperor would never allow you to live if he learned I kept you—”

“So this  _ is _ about the Emperor then?” you spoke over him. “He made you do this. He made you get rid of me.” 

“It’s for your own good, little one,” you hated how he changed his voice, how it made you earn for his touch. You wanted him still, despite everything he’d told you back on that ship. 

“So you’re going to let me forget about everything then?” you were earnestly crying now but you couldn’t stop yourself even if you tried. Vader closed the space between the two of you by then, standing so close to you that his armor was brushing your own clothes. 

“Yes,” he lifted his hand— you knew what that gesture meant. “You won’t remember much about your past life. I’m ensuring that this time you won’t remember about the Rebellion or about me. You’re going to live the rest of your life out here, away from the fighting. As a free woman,” he was referring to the conversation you had right before he erased your memories the first time. He had asked you to leave the Rebellion then and you told him there was no freedom as long as the Empire stood. Perhaps you were wrong— perhaps that’s why you were here now. He found a way to ensure you’d be safe staying here. 

“ _ Wait _ ,” you called out just as his fingers grazed your temple. It wasn’t too late to tell him. “Vader, I— I’m—” you hesitated. Was it worth it, telling him now? Would he still let you stay here? Or worse, would he take your child away? You never thought about that possibility and now it scared you even more. You couldn’t let him take the precious life inside of you away— couldn’t let the Emperor lay his hands on it. Instead, you shoved the thoughts deep inside your mind and clamped down on your secret, determined that he wouldn't learn of it.

“Do you promise you would never seek me out then?” you asked instead, keeping your gaze steady on the lenses of his mask. “Do you promise to never come here?”

Your question seemed to startle him and he tilted his helmet to the side, as though surprised by it. 

“That was my intention,” he replied. “You would never see me again. And I won’t ever go looking for you. You can rest assured of it.”

You watched him for a moment. You trusted him enough to know he would keep to his promise. That was enough for you— enough to keep your secret safe. He would never learn of it. You nodded your head.

“Okay.”

You closed your eyes. 

When you would open them again, you’d find yourself alone in your hut, happily humming to yourself that you had many things to do today. It was still early morning— you had every intention to get stocked up on more supplies. You never noticed the dark silhouette of a figure watching you from the outside of your hut, never felt the lingering gaze on your back when you passed by the window. You never heard the ship take off, nor the sound of it screeching through the sky. 

You had a busy morning ahead of you. 


	18. Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains descriptions of child birth (nothing too graphic) but thought I should warn you.

“You’re up early today.”

You looked up to see Omera slowly waddling up to you through the foliage of tall grass, coming up to the outskirts of the village on the opposite end of where your hut was. You were soaking your feet in the water which was directly connected to the river not far off from where the village was. There were many streams coming off from the main source, creating the layout of what currently was the farming land— and subsequently the krill, the main source of food and income for many villagers residing in this small settlement. It was a peaceful area and there were hardly any visitors at all, if any, ever since you came to live with the tribe. You couldn’t remember how you ended up here, except that you always felt welcomed. You smiled at the approaching woman, Omera’s stomach large and bulging in the later stages of her pregnancy.

“I couldn’t sleep,” you admitted after Omera settled herself next to you. 

“The baby’s keeping you up at night?” she looked down to your own stomach, its size protruding even while you leaned slightly back, supporting yourself with your arms behind your back. 

“It’s becoming harder and harder to do anything nowadays,” you laughed and then winced slightly when you felt the baby kick. “This little one is quite active— especially at night time.”

Omera laughed with you. “Yes, I can imagine,” she rubbed her own stomach with her hand. You were both the only women in the tribe currently pregnant and coincidentally on the same schedule, according to the tribe’s healer. Which was the reason why you bonded with the native woman almost immediately. 

“Did you pick out a name yet?” she asked you after you fell silent, drawing your gaze from the rising sun back to her face. 

“I think so,” you smiled. “Depends on what the gender will be.”

Omera hummed in response. “It’s getting closer. A few more weeks at most.”

Your smile fell from your lips. You were constantly reminded each waking moment of how much closer the end of your pregnancy was. You should have been joyful. Instead, you felt panic and terror settling in within you, making your anxiety spiral out of control. You were missing the most vital part of the greatest comfort you could possibly need at the moment— a partner. Your mate. Instead, you were all alone. 

Omera quickly noticed the expression on your face, her brown eyes filled with worry. “Hey,” she called out, placing a hand on your shoulder and squeezed. “It’s going to be alright. _You_ are going to be alright. I’m here for you— we _all_ are.” 

You took a shuddering breath. “I know. It’s just… everyone here has _someone_. You have your husband, you have someone to rely on. I’m just afraid…”

“It’s alright,” Omera repeated again, her gentleness soothing you. “It’s normal to be scared, especially this being your first child. I’m scared too,” she smiled at you, which in turn made you smile back. 

“What if I can’t do this alone?” you whispered. “What if I screw something up? I’ve never raised a child before.”

“Neither have I,” Omera replied. “But we have each other. And we have other women around us to support us, to give us guidance. You are not alone in this.”

You knew she spoke the truth. You couldn't have asked for a better place to raise your child. This village, these people— they were kind and they were nice. You’ve never felt like an outcast, although you were hardly native to this land. You were never judged for being a single mother, without a husband. And you were never pressured to take one— everyone understood your predicament. Everyone had seen the mark on your neck, even if you couldn’t recall how you got one. 

“Once this pregnancy ends, I’ll be going into heats,” you spoke out loud, finally voicing one of your fears. 

“I know,” Omera softly spoke, giving you time to gather your thoughts to continue.

“I’m the only one here,” you whispered. “You don’t know— neither of you know what it’s like to be an omega without her alpha,” you believed your mate died. That was the only explanation you could come up with to end up all alone on this planet, without any memories of your past life. You were told by the healer it was common for omegas’ minds to shield themselves from agonizing memories in order to forget them. You couldn’t remember any of them even if you tried. 

“Then we’ll deal with it when the time comes,” Omera responded, giving your shoulder another squeeze. 

“Thank you,” you were grateful for Omera, for her solid comfort and her soothing presence in times of greatest need. 

“Any time,” she smiled at you and then nodded her head towards the village. “We should probably head back.”

You agreed with her. Soon the farmers would occupy the land and start farming the krill and you knew you’d only get in the way. You waited until Omera raised herself to her full height before you followed suit, only to wince when you stood up, feeling wetness coating the insides of your pants. You glanced down, frowning. You didn’t remember sitting in anything wet. Omera glanced behind her when she realized you weren’t following her suit, her face morphing into an expression of concern when she looked you over.

“Are you alright?” she called out. 

“I— I don’t know?” you looked up at her, your eyes wide. “My pants are all soaked. Do you think… is this what I think it is?”

Omera quickly hurried to your side, lifted the part of your dress that covered the crotch to expose the underside of your clothing and let out a surprised exclaim upon finding that your pants were indeed soaked through between your thighs. You stared at her with a shocked expression on your face, your own large stomach preventing you from seeing anything below the curve of your belly. 

“Your water broke,” she announced, her voice steady with no room for argument. 

“Isn’t it too early?” you gasped, panic settling within you. “I should have a few more weeks—”

“Perhaps we simply miscalculated your due date,” Omera looked up at you. There were no medical droids nearby to confirm her claims— they were simply absent from this planet. “You’re not early— you’re simply right on time,” she beamed at you, her eyes sparkling. 

“I don’t— it doesn’t feel like anything,” you stammered. “Shouldn’t I be feeling contractions— _ugh_ ,” you winced, a sharp sensation passing through your midsection and almost catching your breath. You spoke way too soon and by the look on Omera’s face, she realized the same.

“You think you can walk back?” she asked. “If not, I can have the villagers wheel you back in—”

“That won’t be necessary,” you huffed. “Let’s just go.”

Omera simply nodded her head and with her help you slowly made your way back to the village. By the time you reached the healer’s hut, your contractions started to appear a bit more frequent, but still spaced out. You knew from hearing the stories from other women, that you were just starting your labor. It would be awhile before your child came into this world. 

The healer instantly greeted you, her expression barely conveying anything besides the stoic look on her face. It calmed you enough to know she knew exactly what she was doing. She was a much older woman, experienced in delivering countless children throughout the many years. She ushered you to lay down on the mat while she prepared the necessary items for labor. You watched her with wide eyes, Omera by your side, holding your hand.

“It’ll be alright,” she assured you with a quiet voice. “I can stay here during the duration, if you want.”

“Please,” you croaked, looking up at her. You were terrified to admit how much this scared you. By the look on Omera’s face she understood you perfectly. She only squeezed your hand harder.

You were right to speculate how long it would take before you actively went into labor. The early morning soon turned into midday, and then it was nightfall when your contractions started to earnestly let themselves known. Omera had gone in and out during that time, helping you gather some things from your own hut, as well as bringing you food and water. The whole village knew by then that you had gone into labor. It was common for them to visit the hut and either congratulate you or give you support. It wasn’t until late in the night, sometime after midnight, that the healer instructed you to push. 

You were determined not to let your screams be the reason why the villagers could not sleep that night. It only lasted a few minutes— after that you hardly cared if the whole world could hear your cries. It hurt— it felt like someone was ripping you apart, and you barely even started. 

“Keep pushing,” the healer’s voice was a constant reminder that you could not rest for even a moment. You had the urge to snarl at her but she was only doing her job. You screamed again, the pressure between your legs increasing. You pushed again, sweat coating your brows and making your hair stick to your face. Your whole undershirt was soaked and you were panting. Omera’s hand was the only guidance you currently had, her gentle touch wiping away the sweat from your face with a warm wet cloth. 

“I _can’t_ ,” you breathed when the healer told you to keep going. You were exhausted beyond anything you’ve ever experienced before. 

“You can,” she reminded you with a stern voice. “You _must_.” 

“I need— I need my alpha,” you cried, hysteria building up within your chest. You couldn’t do this without him. You needed his comfort’s touch, his calm scent washing over you. Omegas needed their mates more than anything during this difficult time. You felt Omera squeezing your hand again and you latched onto her with a deathly grip. 

“You’ve got me,” she reminded you. “You’re almost there. You need to keep pushing.” 

You screamed again. And again. And again. Your throat was raw, your voice hoarse but you kept screaming. There were no painkillers, no way to take the edge off. You felt yourself tearing further and further apart. The healer only pushed your legs wider, the pressure building. You almost sobbed with relief when she announced she could see the head. You kept pushing. Again, and again, and again. Until she told you to push for the last time— and you squeezed your eyes shut, the pain so unbearable that for a moment you drifted into the back of your mind, trying to latch onto something that would take the pain away. 

You saw an unfamiliar shape, all dark and blurry, and an ominous sound that threatened to pull you back. A glint of armor— a red haze of a long blade. When you focused hard enough you could almost make out a skull-like shape instead of its head. The power that radiated off of it scared you— but there was also a familiar comfort you couldn’t quite place. It all felt oddly familiar, like a cold blanket coating your senses but warming you up once your body heat had enough time to warm it up. You reached out towards it, unconsciously, trying to latch onto it. You startled it when you managed to, and it almost reeled back away from you. You pleaded for it to come back and then you screamed— pain erupting all around you and pulling you back. You could have imagined the voice inside your head, raspy and artificial, calling out to you. You couldn’t heat what was said. 

“It’s a girl,” the healer’s voice threaded through your consciousness and you opened your eyes. Everything zoomed in on the small bundle laying in the healer’s hands. Your mind finally registered the loud cries of the baby now filling the hut instead of yours. You almost collapsed back but Omera’s hand was supporting your back while she rearranged the pillows for you to comfortably sit up. “Let me clean her up,” the healer told you while she swiftly worked through to wipe away the baby’s skin and then wrap her around into a blanket before passing her to you. You stared at the new arrival with wonder in your eyes, not quite believing that she truly was here.

“She’s beautiful,” Omera’s voice was next to you and you quietly hummed in agreement, pain all but forgotten as you watched your baby’s small face, trying to take in all the features and carve this exact moment in your memory. 

She finally opened her eyes and almost squinted at you, her gaze instantly landing on your face. You were instantly drawn to her eyes— they were the most unique color you had ever seen. They reminded you of baby blue sky, so crisp and vibrant, with a hint of grey in them— ever changing, like a stormy ocean. 

_Her father's eyes._

The thoughts slithered inside your head and for a moment you recalled seeing another pair of eyes, just like hers. The face was blurred— but you could never forget those eyes. 

“What’s her name?” Omera’s voice drew you back to the present. 

“Eilani,” you whispered. “My little sweet _Lani_ ,” you put an accent to her name— a dialect used by people from your planet. 

“It’s a good name,” Omera approved just as Lani started whimpering and then outright wailing.

“She needs to eat,” the healer instructed, helping you take off your soaked undershirt and then showing you how to feed. The little one instantly latched onto your breast and you watched in amazement, cradling her as you slowly rubbed your fingers through what appeared to be very faint blonde locks sprouting from her head. You could only smile and watch her, your whole attention diverted at the child while the healer cleaned you up. You barely even registered Omera’s words telling you she would be leaving. 

“You need your rest,” the healer told you when Lani finished eating. She tried to take the child away but you cradled her away from the older woman’s reaching hands.

“Please,” you pleaded. “I just want a moment with her.”

The older woman begrudgingly agreed, giving you some minutes to yourself while she finished cleaning up and leaving the hut to get more warm water for the night. 

“You look nothing like me,” you quietly murmured, drawing Lani’s attention back to your face. She was attentive— more so than any ordinary newborn her age. “You must have taken your looks from your father,” you smiled, gently rubbing your finger across her small face. 

Lani whimpered again and then let out a noise, which sounded a lot like an agreement. You smiled again, playing with her small hands. Your own looked large against her tiny fingers and you were mesmerized when Lani wrapped her tiny fist around one of your fingers. Something passed between the two of you— a sort of spark and a memory of a scarred man with the same blue eyes. You stirred, looking at Lani with wide eyes.

“You both need your rest,” healer’s voice jumped you back to the present and this time no argument could keep the healer from taking Lani from your hands and setting her down into the crib next to your bed. The memory of a scarred man was instantly forgotten as the older woman helped you lay down, working on applying more compresses between your legs and cleaning the dried up blood. As soon as your head hit the pillow, you felt drowsy. You had no strength left to fight the incoming sleep and you let your senses be consumed by darkness as unconsciousness took a hold of you. 

You would be haunted by blue eyes even in your sleep, that is, until Lani would wake you up in the middle of the night, screeching with her loud wailing as though she was plagued by nightmares. You’d spend the rest of the night cradling her in your arms, trying to soothe her worries with your singing. 

You had no idea as to the reason for her crying. You wouldn’t know for many months— not until a stranger stopping by the Sorgan Common House not far off from where your village was located would pass the information that the Alliance won their first big battle in years. That the Galactic Standard Calendar was officially changed. That on the night of your labor the Alliance was fighting for the galaxy’s freedom. And that the Empire’s big defeat was in the form of the total destruction of their super-weapon— the Death Star.

___

Sirens were blaring. Chaos seemed to erupt all around the space station. Stormtroopers were running around in formation, trying to get to their stations. And amidst all the chaos was him— Vader— walking with purpose, a vision of calm and foreboding as he made his way towards the command center. One of the officers seemed to notice him, his panicked gaze instantly landing on Vader. He rushed towards Vader, trying to match with his wide strides.

“We counted thirty rebel ships, Lord Vader,” he hurriedly started. “But they’re so small they’re evading our turbo lasers.”

Vader stopped walking as he turned to address the officer. “We’ll have to destroy them ship to ship. Get the crews to their fighters.”

The officer nodded his head and hurried off. Vader resumed walking but then stopped. Something in the Force shifted. He hurried off to the holopanel to watch the trajectory of the fight up above, trying to figure out the rebels’ motive. He didn’t like what he found. He hastily made his way down to the lower levels of the station, coming upon two TIE fighters pilot ready to head out into the lower hangar. 

“Several fighters have broken off from the main group,” he announced, gesturing for the pilots to follow him. “Come with me.” 

It wasn’t long until he was in his advanced TIE fighter, going through the pre-flight sequence with speed that mimicked the urgency of the situation. He had to get to those rebel fighters and fast. Within minutes he was exiting with two TIE fighters by his side in precise formation, diving immediately towards the Death Star surface. 

“Stay in attack formation,” he barked an order through an intercom, while adjusting his control stick. 

He spotted three rebel fighters almost immediately. They ducked into the trench, fire guns shooting at them while they avoided all the hits. It suddenly dawned on Vader as to the purpose of their strange attack. He studied the schematics of the Death Star plans himself many times before, even before the unfortunate news of the Alliance managing to get their hands on these same plans. He knew there was a weakness— a _flaw—_ to the design of the battle station. And it was in the exhaust port— the same one these rebels were currently flying to. He immediately ordered for the guns to stop firing. 

He dove his ship down almost vertically toward the Death Star surface, the two TIE fighters flanking him from the sides as his wingmen before all three straightened out and then proceeded tailgating the rebel ships. He had them now.

“I’ll take them out myself,” he announced. “Cover me.”

“Yes, sir,” the wingman affirmed over the speaker. 

It was almost too easy. Vader barely even had to adjust his targeting computer for it to line up with one of the rebel’s fighters. He gripped the control stick in both hands as he pressed the fire button, destroying the rebel ship upon its impact with the laser cannons. He did the same with the other two shortly after. There was no way for the rebels to win this round— not with Vader piloting and leading the attack and not in such a narrow space where he had a direct line of attack. He ordered the formation to ease up and fly overhead. He knew there would be more of them coming soon after. There were only a few more minutes left until the Death Star would be in the firing range above Yavin 4, and by then the Rebellion would finally be destroyed.

He felt another prickle in the Force and frowned behind his mask. He didn’t recognize its source. There was no time to dwell on it as three more rebel fighters soon dived down into the trench. He moved the attack formation, closing in on the X-wing fighters as he adjusted his control levers. 

“Close up formation,” he ordered the two wingmen by his side. 

He rapidly approached the two rebel fighters and shot one down almost immediately as soon as it lined up in the center of his computer screen. He aimed another laserfire to the second rebel ship and it exploded into flames. He almost gained on their leader until the rebel managed to fire his cannon at the target and for a moment it seemed like it hit the mark. It caused a minor explosion at the surface but it hardly did any damage. Vader wasn’t letting the leader get away as he sped off after him, maneuvering his TIE fighter expertly and aggressively, firing at the rebel fighter in front of him until he hit the mark, sending the rebel plummet to his death as the ship collided with the Death Star’s surface. 

Three more rebel fighters were coming— it seemed these were the last the Rebellion had as their hope. Vader ordered another formation and he was zooming fast on the rebels. He scored a direct hit on the closest of the ships but didn’t destroy it completely, only forcing the rebel to pull his crippled X-wing fighter away from the battle. 

“Let him go,” Vader issued a command, watching the escape. “Stay on the leader.”

He was closing more and more on the last two of the fighters, the one closest to him trying to shake off the pursuit. It did nothing— Vader fired the lasers and it hit the mark, sending the rebel ship into flames. There was only one last remaining and thirty seconds left until the Death Star reached its destination.

“I’m on the leader,” Vader sped off after the rebel ship, closing the distance. The victory was near, he could almost feel it. He could feel… was that a tremor in the Force? He frowned behind his mask. Yes, he could definitely feel it now. And it was coming… from the X-wing fighter up ahead. His eyes widened.

“The Force is strong with this one.”

It made sense why the Force was so insistent that something was wrong. Constant tremors reminding Vader to pay close attention. It only made the circumstances of this battle that much more significant. Vader had to kill this pilot— whoever he was, no matter what. He fired the laserfire but it only hit the astromech droid. He tried again, this time adjusting his control sticks and checking his projected targeting screen before making sure his targeting computer had the rebel fighter in the position.

“I have you now,” he pushed on the fire buttons only for one of the TIE fighters at his side to be hit and explode in flames. “ _What_ ?” it had taken Vader by surprise, so much that he lost his concentration, looking up from his cockpit to find an intruder. He gritted his teeth when he spotted the _Millennium Falcon_ barreling straight down on them right on the collision course. 

“Look out!” 

Vader did not anticipate for the wingman to panic at the sight of the upcoming pirate starship and then veer radically to the side, colliding with Vader’s TIE fighter in the process, in result causing the wingman to crash into the sidewall of the trench and explode and send Vader’s damaged ship spin out of control out of the trench with a damaged wing. 

“Ugh,” Vader tried steering his fighter but had no luck— the ship continued to spin and spin out of his control to the point of almost making him sick. And then he felt it again— the surge in power and the Force screaming at him and like a sharp ache resonating with him when he felt millions of lives perish at once when the Death Star exploded. It disoriented him for a moment— enough to cause him to feel something else entirely. The presence of omega calling out to him, her pain resonating through him. He was shocked enough to pull back but then he heard her cries.

“ _No_ ,” but the feeling was gone and so was the strange sensation in the Force and he was pulled back to reality, him finally managing to stabilize the controls. He attributed this madness to him feeling the aftershock of so many deaths— any Force sensitive would even in the far reaches of the galaxy. 

It would be days until he finally managed to crash land on Vaal and make his way to the small Imperial communication outpost to get a functioning ship to get him back to Coruscant. By then he would entirely forget about the strange vision of the omega, or the accompanying presence of a being in the Force (entirely different from the rebel fighter). His only goal would be to find the identity of that rebel fighter before the Emperor’s loyal subjects did.

Because no one besides Vader and Palpatine had such a tremendous power in the Force. No one— except that pilot. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I figured to mix up a few things in this chapter :) Yes, Omera is from the Mandalorian and her husband is still alive since this is about 9 years before the events in the Mandalorian. We'll be spending another chapter with them on Sorgan :)
> 
> I also wanted to include the Battle of Yavin and Vader's thought process on the matter. Because this battle is happening right as our omega is giving birth. (I figured it takes a while to plan the attack of such mass on the DS that they don't show you in films. So let's pretend it takes 9+ months from the events in Rogue One to New Hope for the rebels to finally destroy the DS). So while Vader fights he completely misses the birth of his daughter (because I think he should be able to feel some sort of disturbance in the Force hence all the little hints... and him thinking it was the rebel pilot all along). 
> 
> Hope that all made sense and that you enjoyed it! Thank you for your comments and kudos, I greatly appreciate them <3


	19. The Disturbance

“Lani, it’s dinner time!” you called out from the inside of the hut, finishing up the last stages of the meal. You looked outside through the window when no one responded, watching with slight amusement and annoyance as the girl was too far engrossed in something with the other children of the village. They were watching something on the ground— perhaps playing with the frogs native to this land. 

“Lani—” you repeated but then the voice of Omera called out from her own hut.

“Winta,” you saw her step out and gestured for her own daughter to come inside. Lani immediately looked up and told something to Winta and you watched their exchange as you walked outside with a slight stern expression on your face. The two girls bonded instantly as soon as Winta was born a few weeks after Lani. And from that point on, they were inseparable.  _ Sisters _ was what Omera called them. Although the two looked nothing alike. While Winta possessed all the characteristic qualities of people native to this land— with dark hair and brown eyes, just like her own mother, Lani was the total opposite. She was fair-skinned, with light blonde hair that remained that color ever since her birth and bright blue eyes. 

“Come inside,” you gestured for Lani when the girl finally acknowledged you and she instantly obeyed, running up to you just as Winta did the same. You exchanged a knowing look with Omera, slightly shaking your head, before you entered the hut after Lani. “What did I tell you about responding to me the first time I call for you?” you asked her.

“I’m sorry, mama,” Lani’s expression was less than sorry as she climbed on the chair before the table.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” you inclined your head with your hands on your hips. “You need to wash your hands first after playing outside.”

“Yes, mama,” the girl grinned and you sighed. She was a troublemaker, this one. Each day she was growing, there was something more that was added to the growing list of things she was known for in this village. Everyone knew Lani— and how could they not? Not when she possessed a rare quality to her, one you were desperate trying to quell. 

You seated yourself on the opposite end of the table after Lani settled on her side once you ensured she properly washed her hands and began eating, barely paying attention to what was happening in front of you until it was too late.

“Lani!” you exclaimed when the girl reached for another loaf of bread from across the table without actually  _ reaching _ for it. The bread was floating mid-air between her and you, with Lani’s outstretched hand beckoning for it to come to her. The bread instantly dropped with a dull thud on the table and you watched it in horror for a second before you managed to school your features. 

“I’m sorry,” she repeated again, this time sounding more sincere, before tears started to form in the corners of her eyes— the first sign that she was about to go into the infamous children’s hysteria of her age. 

“No— Lani,” you sighed and then hurried over to her side, kneeling on the floor before her chair, before reaching for her small hands and wrapping them in yours. “I’m not angry with you—”

“But you  _ are _ ,” she sniffled. “I can  _ feel _ you.”

You paused for a moment, trying to formulate a response. “You’re right,” you admitted. “I  _ am _ angry, but not for the reason that you think. I’m just… worried.”

Lani looked down at you through her lashes, her eyes boring into you. She was doing that thing again— the one where she could easily tell what you were thinking. The first time that happened you were unsettled for days. But that didn’t mean you were growing used to it any better as more time passed and the older Lani grew to be. She was already four years old and her strange abilities seemed to be growing stronger with each passing day. 

“Because of the bad men?” she asked, as though picking up on your stray thoughts. 

“Because of the bad men,” you nodded your head and then squeezed her hands. “Lani… there are people out there in the world— different from people on this planet— who won’t hesitate to take you away from me, only because they are afraid of something they can’t explain. And your… abilities… they are natural to you because you were born with them, but others can be scared because they don’t understand. You  _ must _ be careful when you use them and who you use them in front of. Not everyone as friendly as they seem. Okay?” you looked at her with a small smile on your face, hoping to convey warmth through your love for her. 

“Okay,” she tilted her head. “Did daddy have the same powers as me?” she suddenly asked and you froze, the question completely catching you off guard. 

“I— I don’t know,” you finally managed to reply. “I don’t remember much about him.”

“That’s ‘cause your head feels funny,” Lani replied and you stared at her.

“ _ Funny _ ?” you repeated. 

“Yes— like a cloud of smoke,” she nodded her head. 

“Well— that’s…” you didn’t know what to say to that either. “How about we finish the dinner and then get you ready for bed, alright? You’ve been running around all day today, you must be very tired,” you rose from the ground, ruffling her hair on top of her head. 

“I’m not tired,” she pouted, the previous conversation all but forgotten as you two bantered with one another over the rest of the dinner. It was later that night, when you finally managed to wrestle the girl into her bed and tuck her in, after telling her a good night story and kissing the top of her head before wishing her a good night that she spoke— sleepily and out of it into the quiet night. 

“Daddy is still alive,” her words made you freeze. “I can feel him sometimes, mama. He’s very sad and lonely,” she was asleep before you could register the meaning of her words. You spent the rest of the night wide awake, tossing and turning in your own bed, replaying Lani’s words inside your head.

_ He was still alive.  _

___

“You’ve been spacing out quite a lot today,” Omera’s words brought you back to the present. You looked up from your spot in the water, the net still in your hands that you were using to catch the krill. You had forgotten to dunk it into the water, thus catching Omera’s attention as she stood next to you. 

“It’s nothing,” you lied, resuming your work.

“Is this about Eilani?” Omera asked and you stiffened, before abandoning the farming altogether. 

“I’m worried about her,” you admitted to her. “She’s been acting… strange.”

“She’s a sensitive child,” Omera pointed out. “And she’s always been different amongst our kind.” 

“ _ Exactly _ ,” you sighed with irritation. “But being different doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. When have you ever seen a child her age do things that she’s capable of?”

“Never,” Omera admitted. “But I’ve heard of stories about her kind.”

“She’s not  _ them _ ,” you hissed. 

“But perhaps her father was,” Omera raised her brow as if offering you to challenge her claims. “You hardly know anything about him.”

“That’s the thing,” you got out of the water, frustratingly wrenching the wet clothes with your hands. “I don’t know anything about him. And I  _ should _ . How can I not know anything about the father of my child? How can I not  _ remember _ ?” you couldn’t tell Omera about what Lani told you a few days earlier. About the weird sensation you’ve been getting any time Lani brought up any mention of her father. About her strange description of what your mind felt like to her. About how you’ve recently been getting strange dreams of a faceless man in black armor. 

“Perhaps it’s for the best,” Omera softly spoke behind you. “You ended up here— in this village, for a reason.”

A  _ reason _ . Everyone kept reminding you of that. But what was the reason to place you here in the first place? Away from civilization and the on-going war between the Alliance and the Empire. Away from the center of the world. You did not belong here yet somehow you ended up on this planet and you had forgotten  _ everything _ . There must be an explanation to— you froze. Looking straight ahead and on the edge of the village you noticed Lani playing on the ground. You didn’t even notice her leaving your side until now so you hurried off to get her. 

“Lani,” you called out to her and the girl picked up her head, smiling at you when you neared her. 

“Mama,  _ look _ ,” she called out and you realized what she was doing once you took in the scene. She was twirling some leaves before her, without touching them— she was using her power out in the open.

“Lani, we talked about this—” you started but then realized another thing which made you freeze on the spot. Looking past the edge of the trees you saw something which instantly made your heart lurch in your throat. There was a  _ stranger— _ a man, standing not far off from where you were, staring right down at Lani with an expression you couldn’t quite explain. But that wasn’t what put you on guard in the first place. It was the fact that you didn’t recognize the man— it looked like he did not belong in these parts of the planet, not in the way he dressed nor the fact that he didn’t bother concealing his weapons. It made you experience a funny feeling you couldn’t explain either. 

“Excuse me,” you barely smiled at the man before snatching Lani from the ground and lifting her in your arms. She protested with a loud exclaim but you ignored her, staring at the man instead. “Can I help you?” 

It was unusual to get visitors to your village— most people never ventured that far off from the main Common House. So the fact that someone like that man made it this far here had put you on guard.

The man’s eyes briefly met yours but then fell right back on your daughter, his gaze unsettling you. “Interesting little trick she’s learned there, huh?” he finally replied, smiling at you and flashing his teeth. 

“Yes, just a  _ trick _ ,” you quickly replied, hoping your voice sounded natural, but it came out forceful and dry. 

He finally shifted from his spot by the tree, stepping out into the open. “And where did you find such a rare gem?” he nodded his head towards Lani. 

“She’s my  _ daughter _ ,” you didn’t appreciate his tone as you snarled your response, inching away from the man. By now you knew Omera had seen the stranger as well and notified the rest of the men in the village.

“Is she now?” the man tilted his head, intrigued. “So the rumors are true then.”

“Rumors?” you continued backing away just as he placed more steps towards you. 

“Are you one of  _ them _ ?” he asked, his hand falling right next to the holster with his strapped blaster— you didn’t miss the look in his eyes when he noticed you staring at the weapon. 

“One of  _ whom _ ?” you prayed that Omera would hurry up. Even Lani, who up to this point was struggling in your hold, had gone quiet, staring at the man with her wide eyes. 

“One of the Jedi,” the man grinned and you swore you could feel your heart stop beating just for a split second. This wasn’t a rare chance of him appearing here out of nowhere, you realized. And this wasn’t the first time you’ve heard of the Jedi either. Even Omera had mentioned something about them to you when she recently brought up the subject about Lani’s strange abilities. You denied her claims, swearing she wasn’t one of them. She couldn’t be— because  _ you _ weren’t one. You never stopped to think about Lani’s father because you didn’t want to admit the truth.

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” you could finally hear the commotion behind you, breathing a sigh of relief but barely lowering your guard in front of the stranger. “We are just ordinary people, trying to make a living by farming.”

“Perhaps they are,” the man indicated towards the villagers behind you, his gaze never leaving yours. “But not  _ this _ one,” he gestured towards Lani. 

“You said there were rumors,” you narrowed your eyes, switching up the conversation. There was no point beating around the bush when the man clearly knew what he was saying. “What were they? Where did you come from?”

“Ah,” the man’s lips thinned, his face taking a look of excitement, mixed with another hidden emotion. “Just some… interesting talk about this particular village. I had to come and see for myself if it was true.”

“ _ What _ was?” but you already knew the answer to that question and so did the stranger as he flashed you a predatory grin. He came here to see Lani, you just  _ knew _ it. The thought alone made your anxiety spike tenfold, which caused Lani to whimper in your arms, her senses picking up on your internal distress. You cradled her closer to you, wrapping your arms protectively around her, trying to shield her from the man’s piercing gaze. Just when you thought you’d crack, the help finally arrived with Omera leading the way. 

“Can we help you?” she asked when she finally reached you, the rest of the villager’s men obstructing the view of the man as they gathered around you, shielding you from the man’s gaze. 

“No— I think not,” he replied, nodding his head as a farewell before proceeding to back away into the tree line of the forest. 

“ _ Wait _ ,” you called out, despite yourself. “You never answered me where you came from,” but instead of replying to you the man turned around and continued walking, barely sparing you a glance. 

“I said wait—” but Omera stopped you before you had the chance to take a step forward, her hand on your shoulder to remind you she was there. You turned around to see her shaking her head.

“He’s gone now,” she murmured. “And we should head back. Eilani needs her rest,” only then did you notice how distressed your daughter looked, her skin pale and her small hands tightly gripping your clothes. 

Only when you finally managed to calm her down and make her fall asleep, did you finally have a chance to talk with Omera, who was waiting for you outside your hut. 

“He was there for her,” you told her, your voice slightly elevated to convey your internal panic. “He  _ watched _ her— he saw her strange abilities.”

“He won’t take a chance to come here again,” Omera softly spoke by your side. 

“You don’t know that,” you were tiredly rubbing at your face. “He must know  _ something _ . He said there were  _ rumors _ . About Eilani. How could there be rumors? No one ever comes here… you don’t think the villagers are the ones…”

“No,” Omera’s voice was firm. “We are all loyal here to each other. We are all family. Eilani is part of this family, they won’t betray her.”

“I don’t understand then,” you sighed. “How did he know…”

“Listen,” Omera’s hand was back on your shoulder. “We won’t let anything bad happen to either you or Eilani. If we must— we will protect both of you.”

“There won’t be much to do for any of you if that man comes back with more men and more weapons,” you knew you were being pessimistic but you were only laying out the harsh facts. “None of us have anything to defend ourselves with. Not even blasters.”

“There are other ways we can defend ourselves,” Omera softly replied. 

“Omera—”

“You need your rest as well,” she continued. “You’ve looked exhausted for the past few days. Being stressed won’t do either you or Eilani much good. Go to bed— I’ll keep a watch.”

Arguing with her was pointless— you were indeed tired but you were also worried, which made your rest almost pointless as you turned and tossed in your own bed after thanking Omera and taking your leave. The conversation with the stranger kept replaying in your head. You had many questions but barely any answers to any of them. You didn’t know how the man came by to the village in the first place. How he knew to look out specifically for Eilani with her strange powers. Who was spreading the rumors and how far they had spread and what exactly were the rumors about. And most concerning of them all —the fact that the man truly believed you were a Jedi, or something equivalent to that. The race of humankind that was long extinct and hunted down by the Empire’s enforcers for betraying the Old Republic two decades ago— so long ago for you to hardly remember that happening. You were just a child at that time when the Jedi Purges happened all over the galaxy. And now you were linked to them because of Eilani— because she seemed to possess the same powers as they once did, which easily put her as a target. 

You were no longer safe. You realized that the moment you saw the look in that man’s eyes. You just didn’t know to what extent the danger laid up ahead and how far you were trapped in the spirals of the web until it was far too late.

___

It was the noise that woke you up. 

It disoriented you for a moment because you didn’t recognize it. Not at first at least. Not until something jogged your memory and you felt a prickle of cold sweat trailing down your neck because you recognized the noise. Like a distant memory— like coming out of the fog. You instantly scrambled out of bed, haphazardly throwing on your clothes and rushing into Lani’s room to see her already wide awake and staring at you with a glossy look in her eyes, shining in the dead of the night. 

“Mama,” she whispered, her voice quivering. 

“It’s alright,” you were by her side in an instant, already dressing her up when you heard an insistent and loud knock on your door. You froze mid-air, anticipating the worst, until Lani informed you it was just Omera— you weren’t even going to question the child about her ability to distinguish between people’s emanations. You barely even unlocked the door when Omera pushed at the door, her facial expression the first thing that reflected from the make-shift light source she was holding which confirmed your worst fears. 

“You were right,” her voice was hurried, rapid, tinted with her own fear. “They’re here— they’re coming. You need to leave.”

“ _ Who _ ?” but instead of answering you Omera had stepped inside the hut, already starting to pack the supplies. You only stared at her in shock, your mind blank as thought someone had shut off your brain. Then you heard the noise again— high pitched and passing overhead the huts. 

“I’ve heard this before,” you gasped, staring at Omera’s face as though hoping that what you’d find there would dispel the realization of what that noise meant.

“I’m sorry,” she was ushering you around to help you pack. “I don’t know who that man was, but he brought something I never thought I’d ever expect to see on this planet.”

“The Empire,” you couldn’t deny this any longer. What you’d been hearing, the noise that kept getting louder and closer, were the Imperial fighters flying over the village. 

“Yes,” she admitted. “And you need to leave before they find you. Before they find Eilani.”

“ _ How _ ?” you screeched. “There’s no way out of this planet—”

“How else do you think visitors keep coming here?” she interrupted you before shoving the pack with supplies in your hands. “There’s a way out of here. My husband will show you the way. He’s waiting outside.”

You were too stunned to speak, because in the next moment Omera was pushing both you and Eilani out into the dead of the night with Omera’s husband— Khoan— already waiting for you as he grabbed the supplies out of your hands. You instinctively picked up Lani in your arms, protectively wrapping her in your embrace.

“Will I see you again?” you asked Omera. “Will you be okay— all of you? Winta?”

“Don’t worry about us,” Omera gave you a small smile, her fingers softly trailing Lani’s cheek as the girl watched her from behind your shoulder. “Take care of yourself first. We’ll be alright.”

“We need to go,” Khoan’s voice was urgent and you understood his reason for urgency. You could hear another noise somewhere far off into the distance. Another memory resurfaced from the depths of your mind— it sounded a lot like a Scout Walker. 

You shot Omera a final look, your eyes conveying everything you were grateful to her for the past few years of your life in this village. You knew the chances of you ever seeing her again or this village were slim to none. If the Empire was here that meant you could never come back here— not unless the Empire lost in the on-going war against the Alliance. Your heart hurt, not because you couldn’t say your proper goodbyes, but because Lani never got her chance to say her goodbyes to Winta. You were taking her childhood away with the swipe of your hand across her cheek as you pressed her closer to your chest, keeping your tears at bay. 

“Why bring all this fortified equipment to this backwater planet?” you finally asked after a while, after you were treading behind Khoan for the past half an hour through the dense forest. You had to be particularly careful not to inadvertently stumble upon any Imperial troopers. You were at a disadvantage with no night vision and no weapons to protect yourselves. 

“The Empire does not want to take any chances,” Khoan responded. “Not when it involves a child with the Jedi powers.”

“But she’s not—”

“I know,” he interrupted you. “But  _ they _ don’t. And they won’t stop until they get what they want.”

“Mama,” Lani’s voice was alert. You couldn’t see her that well in darkness. “What’s a Jedi?”

“Not now,” you hushed her. “I’ll explain everything—”

“ _ Quiet _ ,” Khoan hissed and suddenly you were pressed against the thick trunk of the tree with Lani sandwiched between you and Khoan’s body. Seconds later you could hear the unmistakable sound of a speeder passing through the forest somewhere close to where you were hiding. A minute had passed before you were allowed to move again. Lani had grown quiet— she was surprisingly smart enough for her age to recognize when there was a serious situation going on around her. 

“We are heading towards the Common House?” you finally asked when you recognized the pathway. 

“It’s the only way out of this planet,” Khoan replied. “That’s where you’ll find a ship.”

“And that’s exactly where the rest of the Imperial troops are,” you hissed. “What makes you think they hadn’t blocked off the routes off this planet? For all we know there could be a blockade up above.”

“These are just scouts,” he replied. “They were sent here to gather the intel.”

“Too many troops for them to be just an intel,” you finally made it to the other edge of the forest after what seemed like hours. The night had not broken in but it was much closer to the dawn than a few hours back. You had a much better chance escaping this planet unnoticed in the dark. That meant you didn’t have that much time left. 

“That man must have been a spy,” Khoan declared. “Perhaps an official for the Empire. I’ve heard rumors of them scouting remote planets for a chance to find gifted children.”

You gritted your teeth, silently berating yourself for the mistake of staying on Sorgan days after the man left, even knowing the risks that came with that decision. You knew he was coming back, you just didn’t know he was so powerful in the chain of the Empire to bring a whole battalion of Imperial troops with him. You not only endangered yourself and Eilani, you also placed all those villagers, including Omera’s family in danger as well. 

“I should have left.”

“You didn’t know. We all didn’t.”

You shook your head. “If something is to happen to any of you I don’t know what I’d do—”

“Nothing will,” he assured you. “Let’s go.”

It was a trek down the hill but you managed to do so inconspicuously. You couldn’t be more thankful for a tall grass surrounding the small outpost that sat in the open clearing surrounded by the trees and swamps, which was the Common House— a place for any rare visitors to stop by and rest. Usually peaceful and quiet, it was now swarmed by several small Imperial convoys with several small shuttles parked on the other side.

“I don’t see any of the ships you mentioned,” you whispered. 

“I see several right in front of us,” your eyes widened when you realized what Khoan meant by that comment. 

“You’re not serious,” you hissed. “Taking one of the Imperial ships will only get us all killed.”

“Not if they have no other transports to use to get themselves up in the air,” you saw the look in his eyes, finally catching on to his insane plan. 

“You want to take out the remaining ones while keeping one for myself,” you realized. 

“Exactly,” he nodded his head towards the closest one. “It shouldn’t be this hard to pilot one and engage its weaponry systems, right?”

You couldn’t quite tell Khoan how you were that much certain that you could pull this off if given a diversion. Somehow the haze in the back of your mind was slowly pulling away, revealing more about your past life in the last few hours than what you could remember in the last four years since Eilani’s birth. And you were more than certain that you, at one point, could pilot a ship. 

“Yeah,” you whispered and then looked down to see Lani fighting her sleep to keep her eyes on you. “It’s going to get rather loud soon. You think you can handle that?” 

She only nodded her head, her eyes still watching you. You could almost imagine her feeling the apprehension waffling from you at the mere prospect of this insane plan. If something were to go wrong, then you would all be doomed. But what other choice did you have? The Empire would easily find you come daylight. 

“Let’s move,” Khoan motioned for you to follow him. In another life you could almost imagine him becoming a General in the war. He was good like that, keeping calm in the intense situations, not showing any fear at the prospect of danger and a chance of death. You needed that comfort at the moment, the strength of a man while you battled your own inner demons. The thought of a faceless man in black armor resurfaced in your mind again. You pushed it away to focus on what was in front of you.

You took your chance when there was a shift in the trooper’s patrolling, with Khoan sneaking behind one of the lone troopers and taking him out in a stronghold with his arms wrapped around the soldier's neck. You made sure to shield Lani’s eyes away from the scene until you were sure the trooper wouldn’t move. The blaster came in your possession when Khoan argued you’d be best with keeping the weapon with yourself. You sneaked inside the compartment of a ship, ensuring it was empty before proceeding to the cockpit. 

“Switches to engage the weapon system,” you showed Khoan, your hands moving on autopilot as though this knowledge was ingrained in your memory. “This one is to start up the engines,” you explained to him.

“I won’t be needing to engage anything else besides the laser cannons,” Khoan told you. “Keep a lookout for my signal.”

“You can just use the communication system,” you told him before he had the chance to leave and get to another ship to start the process. “Good luck— and please, be careful,” you held his hand for a moment, a silent agreement passing between the two of you until the moment was broken when Khoan left to make his way to another ship.

You wasted no time to prepare the ship for takeoff. You strapped Lani to her seat, ensuring she was safely tucked in before taking your own place in the pilot’s seat. You wouldn’t start up the engines until Khoan started the attack, but you were swiftly going through the pre-flight sequence with exact precision, ensuring the ship was at its full capacity to take a sudden flight. It was just a waiting game at this point— and the first ray of sun finally broke through the darkened sky, casting a soft yellow glow at the horizon. Just in time when the ship closest to you engaged the cannons. 

“Ready.”

That was the only warning you had to start your own engines, your hands on the levers of the stick as you pressed down on the button to engage your own weapon system. And in the fiery display of the attack all the nearby ships went up into flames, exploding upon contact with the lasers. You had barely any seconds to spare as troopers came running at your ship with their own armed weapons, the commotion causing all the nearby scattered troopers to return to their base. You continued firing, the lasers hitting at the troops with precision, your mind too focused on what was in front of you to see what was coming your way from behind. 

You had completely forgotten about the damn Walker.

“Look out!” it was Khoan’s voice that came over the speaker. Lani screamed and you lurched the ship to the side almost out of instinct, barely avoiding the hit from the laser cannon as it hit the side of the ship. You had no time to waste on the ground. You had to lift the ship up into the sky to avoid the ground hits.

“You need to start up your engines,” you shouted over the speaker as you guided the ship unto the air, avoiding more hits from the Walker. 

“I’ll stay behind— you go,” you had no time to respond to that as you circled the ship mid-air, taking a shot at the Walker— enough to render it immobile but not enough to put out of commission as it continued firing at yours and Khoan’s ships. 

“You’re going to get hit!” you screamed.

“Go!”

You couldn’t stay here much longer— your main objective was complete. All the remaining ships were destroyed and there was no way for the rest of the troopers to reach communication with the Empire without their lost signal. You lurched the ship up, ensuring to cause more damage to the grounds below as you continued climbing up in the air. The unexpected explosion took you by surprise, as well as Lani’s loud screaming.

“ _ No _ .”

Khoan’s ship was blown up into flames. It seemed the Walker managed to land a hit, even with it being partially immobile and severely impaired. You gritted your teeth, angling the controls of the ship down to avenge his death as you flew straight towards the Walker.

“ _ Mama _ ,” it was Lani’s voice that snapped you from your red haze of anger and you pulled at the lever at the last second, avoiding the direct hit coming from the Walker. You bit back your tears, casting last look at what remained of Khoan’s ship, before flying off away from the center of what remained of the swift battle that left the place looking like a perfect picture of a war— with everything lit up in flames and burning. Everything destroyed and lives taken— including Khoan’s. 

You wondered what Omera would say when she learned of her husband’s death. Would she be angry at you or the Empire for destroying her life? Would she be proud that her husband sacrificed his life to save yours and Lani’s? Would Winta even remember her father growing up with just her mother by her side? You would never know— because you would never see her again. 

_ I’m sorry.  _

You looked to the side to see Lani’s own tears glistening in the sunrise.

“I’m sorry,” you told her. “I never wanted you to see any of this,” you went to say more but then a thunderous headache shot through your head and you cried out from pain, almost letting go of the controls of the ship. You just passed the upper levels of the planet's atmosphere, flying straight into space. You held on to the controls, gritting your teeth as you battled at the tears in the corners of your eyes as more pressure gathered around your head.

It hurt. It hurt so  _ much _ . 

“Mama,” it was Lani’s voice again but it sounded so far away. “The smoke.”

“What?” you choked back. 

“Your head,” she continued. “It won’t let you leave.”

You couldn’t understand her. The pressure continued to grow. You were fighting the gravitational pull of the planet down below. And the splitting headache that continued to make you feel like your head was about to explode. 

“Mama,” Lani’s voice sounded closer. You opened your eyes to find her reaching for you with her small hands. Somehow she managed to unclasp from her seat and make her way over to you. “Let me.”

You let her. You couldn’t stop her even if you tried. The pain immobilized you to the point that you couldn’t speak. It was like you were rooted to the seat, unable to move, unable to talk. You could only watch as Lani climbed on your lap and reached her fingers to your temples.

It happened in an instant. 

The pain was gone. The fog cleared. And with that came the flood of images long suppressed behind the mental shields erected in place to keep you from remembering your past life. 

It was like a fresh breath of air— except you were choking on all the emotions, all the hurt and betrayal you felt as you finally  _ remembered _ . The reason for you ending up on this planet all by yourself, the reason you couldn’t remember your past life, the unexplained existence of Lani as you lived to cope with realization that your mate was dead while taking care of your daughter all by yourself.

Except he  _ wasn’t  _ dead.

Because he was kriffing Darth Vader and he  _ left _ you here. 

He  _ erased _ your memories. 

And he went through all the trouble to ensure you wouldn’t remember any of it unless you left the planet. Because he thought you never would. 

“Mama?” you looked down to see Lani staring at you with her father’s eyes. 

“I’m okay,” you choked on your words. “I’m okay,” you repeated, straightening the controls of the ship. 

“Was that daddy?” she asked and you looked down at Lani with shock written on your face. “The man in the mask?”

You were speechless for a moment until you snapped from your stupor. “We need to find another ship and soon before we are found,” you couldn’t bring yourself to speak with Lani about her own father, about the man who did this to you. You ignored Lani’s protests and strapped her back to her own seat before thinking of your next course of action. 

Vader’s words slithered through your mind, like a treacherous ooze. 

_ Take this ship to Motok, the capital of Cyrkon. Trade it for another craft— one the Empire won’t track.  _

You let out an aggravated sigh. At least there was something you were thankful for for having your memories back. The knowledge of who you were and how to navigate in the world of the unknown. You knew Motok was your only option at the moment. No one there would care about a stolen Imperial ship. The issue was to stay off the Empire’s radar and keep Lani safe. 

You glanced back at her.

You could do it. You could keep your daughter safe.

Even from the hands of her own father. 

___

The call from the Emperor was unexpected. Even more so was his opening statement as soon as Palpatine’s holographic image came into view before Vader’s kneeling form.

“Have you felt the disturbance in the Force, Lord Vader?”

The question almost brought Vader back to the time all those years ago when Palpatine finally learned of the true identity of the rebel pilot who destroyed the first Death Star. 

“I have felt it,” he admitted— he did feel it. There was an unexplainable spike of something familiar in the Force but he couldn’t place what it was. Even meditating did not allow him to see the truth before he was interrupted by Palpatine’s call. 

“There’s a new threat on the horizon,” Palpatine rasped. 

“Could it be Skywalker?” 

Luke— his son— a notorious rebel fighter who was growing stronger and stronger with each passing year. And after their last match on Cloud City it only confirmed how strong the young boy really was in the ways of the Force. His training with Master Yoda paid off well. He even managed to land a hit on Vader before losing his own hand in process. Something Vader regretted but he had to make the boy vulnerable and defenseless for Luke to listen to him. In result, it only proved to be hopeless as the boy possessed far more qualities of his mother than his father’s. Defiance and misplaced bravery which forced Luke to jump into the air shaft and escape from Vader. He spent months looking for the boy and his friends, growing irritable as more time passed with no results. Nothing else mattered to Vader, not even the rebels. 

“No,” Palpatine hissed. “I do not sense anything from the young Skywalker. There’s a new… far more  _ inexperienced _ presence in the Force.”

Vader was not concerned when he had far more pressing matters to focus on. Finding Luke was his top priority. Ensuring that the second Death Star was nearing its completion was his second, followed after the Emperor’s order. 

“Whoever it is… they’re strong in the Force,” Palpatine continued, noticing Vader’s lack of concern. “You must find them.”

Vader gritted his teeth but remained motionless on the floor. “Yes, master.”

“Good,” Palpatine’s image flickered. “Ensure they’re found soon. I’ll be waiting for your report, Lord Vader.”

The image flickered one more time and then disappeared, leaving Vader kneeling on the floor in the darkness of his quarters aboard the  _ Executor _ . He remained staring at the far wall, clenching and unclenching his fists as he tried to regain his composure. He didn’t care about Palpatine’s irrational concerns of an unknown presence in the Force which could as well prove to be pointless. There were countless Force-sensitives that were hunted by the Emperor’s enforcers and used for his own gains. Vader was almost positive this was another one of those instances, which proved to be another annoyance to Vader’s plans of searching for Luke. 

The Emperor was foiling Vader’s own attempts at finding the young Skywalker. The rift between the Emperor and Vader could not be felt more than it was in those moments when the two conversed about Luke. Vader was running out of time— he had to find Luke and turn him to the Dark Side before Palpatine did the same and turned the boy against his own father.

_ Fine _ .

He’ll search for the cause of Palpatine’s panic. He’ll find them and he’ll destroy them. And then he’ll be back on track of searching for Luke. 

This won’t take long.

He had his ways to find his prey. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I took the liberty upon myself to name Omera's husband since it's not mentioned anywhere. And I tried to stick to canon as much as I could by creating this little battle on Sorgan with the Walker :) (I mean how else would it end up on that planet in the Mandalorian series?)
> 
> I think we'll finally get to see the long awaited reunion between Vader and our omega in the next chapter... but no promises :p
> 
> Let me know what you all thought of this chapter. Took me a whole week to write it... I was rather slow with the process and too exhausted to write more that a few paragraphs at one time.


	20. The Footage

“ _ Kriff _ .”

“Mama, that’s a bad word.”

“I know— I’m sorry,” you looked down at Lani. “Don’t repeat that word until you’re older.”

“You’ve been saying that word a lot today,” Lani pointed out and you sighed, your focus divided between listening to Lani and watching the space port up ahead. 

“We’re a bit in a pickle right now,” you squeezed her hand.

“What’s that mean?”

“It means that we have a rather difficult situation on our hands,” and you certainly did. Exchanging the stolen Imperial ship wasn’t that difficult— not in a place as corrupted and vile as Motok, one of the dozen cities scattered across Cyrkon. The planet was notoriously known for its corrupt government and hubs of many pirates and smugglers— a perfect location to hide from the Empire and lay low for a while. Except the fact that somehow the Empire managed to track down the ship within days of you arriving here and now the space port was crowded with the stormtroopers. The only way to get through to the port to the ship you exchanged with the stolen one was with the identification number and you certainly did not have one. If anything, you had a growing suspicion that Vader erased you from the system when he placed you on Sorgan. You were not-existent in the galaxy’s archives and you had no idea how to get past the security check without arousing suspicion. 

“Situation?” Lani repeated, furrowing her eyebrows.

“We have to get off this planet,” you nudged Lani along. “I have a feeling there’d be more of them here soon.”

“But isn’t daddy one of them?” Lani asked with an innocent voice, causing you to stumble in your step.

“You need to stop trying to read my mind,” you growled at her. “This place is not the village— these people  _ will _ take you away,” you knew you were harsh with your words but you needed Lani to understand that she couldn’t use her abilities and speak of them out in the open. 

“I can’t help it,” Lani sniffled. “It just happens.”

You sighed again. “I know— but  _ please _ , just try to act normal at least until we get off this planet.”

“They’re looking for us because I’m not normal?” her simple question tugged at your heart and you stopped walking altogether. 

“That’s not…” you knelt to the ground next to her. “Not everyone is as special as you are, Lani. And sometimes… the Empire does not like special people. They don’t like me because of my sub gender— because I’m an omega. And they want to find you because of your special powers. There are only a few people in the galaxy that have them, so these people are very rare.”

“But daddy has them too,” Lani stated.

“Yes, he does,” you nodded your head. “He’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.”

“So he can help us then,” oh, the naivety of the child. You couldn’t help the sad look that crossed your face. 

“I don’t think he can,” you murmured. “He’s one of the bad people, little one. And he doesn’t even know about you. We separated long before you were born.”

Lani’s face also fell and you felt guilty for telling her the truth. But better to let her know now before her childish fantasy caused her to make a mistake. Vader could not help you— he left you on Sorgan for the purpose of getting rid of you. If he learned of Lani’s existence you were too afraid to think of what’d he do. His job was to hunt down the Jedi— and Lani, having her father’s abilities, would be no exception to him. You would kill him first before he laid his fingers on your precious girl. 

“Come on,” you picked her up in your arms. “We’re getting off this planet one way or another.”

You saw your opportunity when the commotion in the landing port broke out between some local bandits and the troopers. It caused enough noise to draw the attention of the guards closest to the gate and you were able to sneak in and hide behind some crates, inching your way towards the back and away from most of the Imperials gathered at the front. You were just a few ships away from your own when you were caught.

“You there,” the voice of the trooper was behind you and you silently let out a string of curses. “Halt right there.”

You slowly turned around to face the trooper while shielding your daughter from his view the best way you could. “Yes, officer?” you tried to smile. “Is there a problem?”

The trooper moved closer to you. “State your business. This is a restricted area.”

“I’m just heading back to my ship,” you gestured behind you without signaling out the ship you were referring to. 

“Are you here alone?” the question didn’t seem appropriate and you frowned.

“I should ask the same of you,” you were no longer smiling. 

“Show me your identification,” the trooper moved even closer, forcing you to take a step back. 

“I already did— at the gate,” you re-adjusted Lani in your arms in order to grip the hidden Imperial blaster taken from the dead trooper on Sorgan.

“Identification—  _ now _ ,” there was now a clear hostility in the trooper’s modulated voice. 

“This is Cyrkon,” you pointed out. “The Empire has no jurisdiction here and no power to consider this public port a restricted area,” your question seemed to upset the trooper in some way as he raised his arm with the blaster and pointed it at you.

“I won’t repeat myself again.”

“Have mercy,” you pleaded while you wrapped your fingers around your own blaster. “I have my little one here with me. We just want to head back home— that’s all.”

The trooper moved his helmet to the side as though studying you, until you realized he was sending a signal through the comlink attached to his wrist.

“This is ST-0301, requesting backup at Sector 4. I repeat—”

_ Kriff _ .

Right now was your best chance of escaping from this place unnoticed, while you were one on one with the trooper. You had no hope of evading them if there were more of them coming your way. It was now or never.

You didn’t even blink.

With a lightning speed you pulled out the blaster and pressed the trigger, shooting the trooper square in the chest. He did not see it coming. He fell with a dull thud, his comlink still on with another voice still talking on the other end. You had to make sure he was dead— leaving him alive meant that he could easily give the Empire your description and for them to easily track you down— or worse, put a bounty on your head. Especially if they were to tie you to the incident on Sorgan. 

Lani started whimpering but you shushed her, trying to soothe her with your words as you leaned over the trooper’s body, checking for the pulse under his helmet. The man was definitely dead. You pulled the comlink off his wrist— this would come into play when you needed to track the rest of the troopers’ movements. And right now it seemed the lack of trooper’s response raised some red flags on the other end. They were sending backup to this place. You had maybe a few minutes at most. 

You rushed to the small inconspicuous ship you managed to bargain with the stolen one, checking to make sure it had enough fuel. You cursed yourself when you realized it barely had any defense mechanisms on it —this was more like an inter-planet vessel used to travel between different cities on Cyrkon. The planet had poisonous gas all around and all the cities were surrounded by the dome which protected its inhabitants from the toxins by regulating the atmosphere and climate inside the domes. 

You were screwed if the Empire sent TIE-fighters after you. You couldn’t even defend yourself against them without having any sort of weapons. But it was too late to berate yourself for your mishap because right now you had to get out of here as fast as possible. Just as you were preparing for take off and making the last outside adjustments on the ship, the panicked voice of Lani alerted you that you were no longer alone.

“Hey, you!” 

It was another trooper, and he brought two more with him. You knew the moment they noticed the body of their fallen comrade laying on the ground, because the next moment they started shooting at you. You managed to duck behind the cargo of another ship, casting a quick look at Lani to make sure she was safely hidden inside the ship. You needed to make sure it stayed that way and that they wouldn’t damage your ship in the process with their line of fire.

You breathed— in and out. Years spent on Sorgan dulled your senses but not your reflexes. You were a good shooter— you proved it by taking out one of them with your precise shot to the chest. The next two were harder to kill as they hid themselves behind their own line of defense in the form of crates scattered around this part of the port. You tweaked the frequency on the comlink you took from the dead trooper and managed to tap into the troopers’ private conversation. They planned to surround you from both sides and take you out. 

Not unless you took them out first.

You stealthily circled around the location of one of them, hiding yourself in the darkened corners of the surrounding buildings until you found the outline of the white armor. You jumped to action as soon as you saw the opportunity, startling the trooper as you ran up to him. He didn’t have the chance to raise his gun because you already took the first shot, hitting your target and delivering the killing blow. You proceeded to track the other one, easily finding him but this time the other spotted you before you could shoot him. He raised his own gun, firing at you, and you barely managed to avoid the shots wheezing by you. You ran to him with full speed, startling him enough that you managed to knock him off his feet, knocking the gun out of his hands and shooting him in the head. You winced when immediately the blood started pooling at your feet. You forgot how gruesome these fights could be when, for the last four years, you were stuck on the remote part of the galaxy, unaware of anything beyond the small village. 

You shrugged the sick feeling pooling in the pit of your stomach and turned back, running full speed towards the ship. If you weren’t mistaken, you were more than sure that you could hear more footsteps coming your way— more troopers advancing on towards your location. You could not waste any more time. 

You were just a few feet away from the ramp when you heard a shout coming from the front of the ship and you looked up to see Lani staring at you with wide eyes, her hand outstretched your way. You were confused for a moment until you realized the reason for her panicked expression. Because right at the moment another shot wheezed by you, barely missing you by an inch. You looked behind you to see another trooper aiming at you, his gun set on stun. 

You realized with a sinking feeling that there must have been four of them total— this one must have hidden or showed up later than the rest of them. You cursed, berating yourself for lowering your guard even for a moment. But the shot should have hit you— you were an open target with your back turned his way. You couldn’t understand the reason why he missed nor did you have time to contemplate this as you shot back, finally managing to wound the trooper as your shot hit his armor and forced him to drop his weapon. That was enough for now and you turned around to see Lani running to you, her face stricken with tears.

“I thought you would die,” she cried out and then jumped into your arms as you wrapped her tightly in your embrace, cradling her body to your chest.

“Shh, it’s okay,” you murmured back, rocking her back and forth and heading back towards the ship. You were just about to enter the ramp when you stopped, staring straight ahead and up towards the back side of the wall of the adjacent building. You would have missed it if it wasn’t for the red light steadily blinking in the far corner when your eyes absentmindedly scanned the area. There was a camera— and it was recording. You couldn’t be sure about the angulation and the distance it could cover or what it captured— if anything at all— but you couldn’t take any chances for fear that someone could access the file. You shot at it, rendering it immobile before entering the ship and slamming the ramp shut.

“Let’s get out of here,” you told Lani before firing up the engines. 

You had a long way to go if you were to reach the safe zone. 

___

“ _ Lord Vader, there is something I think you’d like to see for yourself _ ,” were the words of one of the officers aboard the  _ Executor _ , transmitted to him while he was trying to meditate in his hyperbaric chamber. He was irritated enough as it was— that with lack of progress with finding Luke and insistent presence of something in the Force that he couldn’t quite grasp. It was always eluding him but was there as a constant reminder that something indeed was amiss. He also did not get any rest in the last few days and was now angrily strolling through the corridors of his Star Destroyer, until he reached the debriefing room to find some of the officers gathered around the table with a holopanel pulled up before them. 

“This better be worth my time,” he barked, instantly making everyone in the room tense up from the palpable threat in the air radiating from the Dark Lord.

“Sir,” one of the officers scrambled from his spot, his hand shakily twitching by his side. “We received a report from the military outpost on Cyrkon—”

“There is  _ no _ military outpost in that sector,” Vader interrupted with an agitated movement of his hand. 

The officers exchanged looks but the one before him continued. “Erm— yes, technically speaking— until recently, that is,” the officer managed to fidget on the spot, only irritating Vader even more.

“ _ And _ ?” Vader hissed. He despised people who dragged the information out with unnecessary pauses, and this officer seemed to be hitting all the buttons on Vader’s list of which he despised the most. 

“And the report matches with the description of what we presume to be an activist of the Rebellion based on the stolen Imperial ship tracked to Cyrkon. We believe it’s the same one tied to the unfortunate incident on—”

“I do not care for a mere rebel,” Vader spat. “There is only  _ one _ I’m interested in.”

The officer was visibly sweating yet he continued, trembling before the Dark Lord. “I understand, sir, but there is a peculiar detail which caught our attention which we thought would interest you…”

Vader shifted on his spot, only making the officer blanche and stumble in his speech. “Perhaps it’s best if we just show you the footage recovered from the scene,” the officer stepped aside, manipulating the controls of the panel before it came to life. 

Vader stepped closer, expecting to see the usual footage of carnage left in the wake of another fight between the rebels and the troopers. This was almost a norm on usual days when he used to hunt for the rebels himself. His eyes caught the sight of a small figure, distorted through the image, yet he could at least recognize it was a woman. The camera was angled towards her back and he couldn’t clearly see her features until the last moment when the trooper shot at her… only for the blast to be stopped by the invisible force and flung to the side, missing her by an inch. 

“Pause the footage,” he commanded at once and it was stopped. “Rewind,” he watched the footage again, his eyes trained on the bolt of blue energy coming her way until it was flung to the side. “Again,” he directed, watching the footage in slow motion.

The shot should have hit her. Yet it was deflected. As though there was an invisible wall between her and the shot— a Force field. His eyes widened behind his mask. 

A Force-sensitive. 

Vader could feel the Force shifting around him. He suddenly recalled his master’s words. 

_ There’s a new threat on the horizon. _

He found the culprit for his master’s worries. 

“When was this recorded?” he asked.

“A day ago, sir,” the officer replied. “She managed to escape but they are pursuing her as we speak. She has no means to defend herself and her child in the aircraft she picked for herself—”

Vader turned his helmet. “A child?”

“Yes, sir— there’s more to this footage that we managed to recover,” the officer rewound to the scene with the energy bolt until the camera cut off and then switched to another angle, now facing forward. He could only see the top of the woman’s head, her face buried in the child’s hair she was holding in her arms. That was until she lifted her head and locked her gaze with the camera. 

Vader swore he stopped breathing.

Because he instantly recognized the woman staring at him through the hologram with fire in her eyes— the same stare she used on him the first time he ever met her all those years ago on that moon. The same woman who should have been safely hidden away where he left her all those years ago— he watched transfixed as she lifted her hand and shot at the camera, cutting the footage to a stop.

“...We tried to find her in our database,” the officer’s voice cut through Vader’s haze and he forced himself to listen while he stared at the blank screen. “It appears she does not match any of the descriptions on our files. The only thing we could track her to was the incident on Sorgan—”

Vader whipped his head so fast he could hear the bones in his neck cracking. “ _ Sorgan _ ?”

“There were reports of a Force-sensitive child hidden there,” the office continued, unaware of Vader’s inner turmoil at that revelation. “The child matches the description on that screen—” the officer’s voice zoomed out, making Vader’s head spin. He gripped the edge of the table with enough force to almost bend the corners as he leaned forward, ordering to rewind the footage again and stop until he was able to look at the child in the woman’s hands. He couldn’t see the child’s face— the only feature was the light hair on the head— but that could be misleading through the hologram and the red tint of his visor. He could guess the age as well, but then again, all the answers were pointing to the fact that the child more than likely possessed the Force— enough to warrant the Empire’s attention to come to Sorgan and seek out the truth for themselves. Which meant the child was  _ his _ . The years spent on Sorgan matched to the child’s approximate age. 

His life had just gotten a whole lot more fucking complicated than just finding his one son. 

“Who else has this footage?” he heard himself ask, his voice sounding distant to his own ears. 

“The outpost on Cyrkon has the original footage,” the officer replied. “I can have them forward us a more detailed copy if you wish—”

“ _ Delete it _ ,” Vader growled. “Erase it from the files. Command the outpost on Cyrkon to do the same,” when no one moved in the room he snapped, whirling around to bark at the officer who instantly paled, obeying his commands in an instant.

This wouldn’t be enough— Vader had to send his own troopers— Vader’s Fist— to make sure there were no witnesses of this footage on Cyrkon— that its existence was deleted before someone else found out about it.

_ There’s a new… far more inexperienced presence in the Force.  _

He cursed. The Emperor already sensed the child’s presence. Vader did too, but now it made more sense as to the reason why it felt so familiar to him. And it was much stronger— much more than Luke’s— and the child was only four years old if his calculations were correct. This had just become his top priority— more so than finding his son. 

“You have a clear location of her whereabouts?” Vader asked, his mind already whirling.

“She’s being tracked— yes,” the officer nodded. “She wasn’t able to shake off the pursuit— three TIE fighters are tailgating her. If everything goes according to the plan, she and her child would be in our custody as soon as she clears the atmosphere to the planet she’s heading,” the officer pulled up the coordinates. Vader did the math— if he left now he could make it there in time to intercept her. 

He had to take care of the business first. “Are you the only ones that are present here aware of this situation?” he asked, surveying the room and its occupants with his hidden gaze.

The officer before him frowned, confused by Vader’s odd question. “Yes, sir— I delivered the report straight to you.”

It was a pity, really, that Vader should lose all these officers. Most of them were young too. He wasn’t feeling particularly sad about the one standing right before him though— that one irked him enough to justify Vader’s actions. But to hell with that— he never really cared to justify his reasons for killing people. And he certainly wouldn’t start now as he raised his hand and curled it into fist, grabbing everyone in his invisible hold as he choked them. He scowled his features behind his mask at the hideous expression on the officer’s face before he cracked his neck, letting go of the rest of the officers’ bodies as he stepped over them, barely even casting them a look.

He’d order for the cleaning people to clean up the mess and then issue the order for the 501st to head out and clear the situation both on Cyrkon and Sorgan, tracking everyone involved in the operation in order to ensure it never reached Palpatine’s ears. And he’d start with whoever was sent to Sorgan in the first place— whoever forced the omega to flee and then be hunted down by the Empire. But first he’d find the omega and her child.  _ His _ child.

___

Leaving Cyrkon and escaping Imperial pursuit had left your ship damaged— enough that you couldn’t reach your original destination you were planning for. Instead, you had to make an impromptu stop at one of the less inhabited planets which you were pretty certain was not occupied by the Empire. But even if it was, you had no means getting anywhere else with a leak in your fuel and an almost empty fuel tank— you needed to make that stop. But as soon as you exited the hyperspace and cleared the first layers of the upper atmosphere of the planet, you realized there was trouble. And it was in the form of three red dots flashing on your console, getting closer and closer to the vicinity of the ship. 

You were being tracked and followed. And they were gaining speed, surrounding you from both sides.

“Kriff,” you hissed, plunging the ship down to try and lose them. You briefly glanced to the side to make sure Lani was okay and that she was still strapped to the seat. She was. This was going to be a bumpy flight if you were to survive this. 

“Mama,” Lani’s voice was panicked, mirroring how you felt on the inside. There was no way for you to shake off the pursuit, not in this ship and with barely enough fuel. This ship wasn’t equipped to outfly the three TIE fighters flanking you from all sides. And you didn’t have any weapons— you were helpless in this situation no matter how you looked at it. 

“Just hold on for me, baby girl,” you flipped the ship over and under, pointing it towards the ground in the straight line, gaining speed. You gripped the controls of the ship, gritting your teeth as you pulled on the levers at the last second to try and stabilize it. The terrain of the planet was rocky with many spikes and boulder masses gathered all around, making it difficult to maneuver the ship around them and also avoid the hits from the TIE fighters.

They weren’t shooting to try and take you down. They were only trying to damage the ship— or mainly its engines— to force you to land. They were planning on taking you alive. 

You barely managed to avoid the collision with one of the spikes up ahead, forcing the ship to the side and almost running into the wall of pure rock. Lani screamed and you cursed, the fuel light flashing before your eyes. Even if your engines weren’t damaged, you’d soon be making a landing regardless because you’d finally run out of fuel. All the extra maneuvers you were making in the ship not designed to withstand such aggressive flying was only making it worse, causing the fuel to leak even more. 

An explosion at your side caused you to let out a startled cry. One of the fighters managed to hit one of the engines, causing the ship to become unstable. You barely pulled up the levers of the ship in order to avoid colliding with another rocky wall seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Another shot hit the other side, barely missing your last engine. The dashboard before you was blinking, the warning signs popping out letting you know your engine was overheated and in danger of exploding.

Just when you thought everything was lost, the fighter to your left suddenly exploded in flames and you jumped from the unexpectedness of such an event. You looked up to try and find the source of its cause but another explosion to your right made you turn your head in the other direction, staring out in disbelief. When you looked down to the console you found another red dot flashing on your dashboard next to the last TIE fighter tailgating at your rear. You couldn’t see the ships but the only explanation you could come up with to explain the destruction of the two fighters was that someone came to your rescue. Just as you finished that thought the explosion behind you indicated the last of the fighter was destroyed. 

You continued flying straight, trying to see who it was behind you. Until you caught the sight of a sleek black fighter— a modified version of a TIE fighter. You recognized that ship immediately— how could you not when you stood next to it, marveling at its design with Vader by your side back on that moon— and you suddenly grew cold.

“Mama,” Lani looked up at you, staring at you with her wide blue eyes. 

You remained motionless, gripping the controls of the ship with such force that your knuckles turned white. A beeping noise snapped you from your shock and you looked down to see a transmission coming through from the other fighter. You hesitated to answer it. But the noise was persistent and so was the fighter flying next to you, never deviating from the course. You pushed to activate the transmission when you’ve had enough.

“Land the ship,”  _ his _ voice immediately filtered through the speaker, the rich baritone sending shivers down your spine. You refused to answer and refused to abide his command. 

“Land the ship,” he repeated again, this time sounding more urgent or perhaps more irritated, you couldn’t quite tell. “You lost one engine and you’re about to lose your other one. You’re going to crash.”

Still, you refused to answer. You might have heard what sounded like a gurgle noise on the other end of the transmission. Perhaps it was his irritation leaking through the vocoder. 

“ _ Land it _ ,” he finally snapped and your hand twitched on the controls, making the whole ship jerk to the side and almost spiral out of control. You could have imagined a cry from the other end which sounded a lot like his, but you couldn’t be sure. Your focus was on stabilizing the controls.

“Kriffing hell,” he spat. “Just do it—  _ please _ .”

_ Please _ . He sounded so human now. Like he was afraid of losing you because of the possibility of a crash. You thought that was the stupidest idea you could have ever thought of. You gritted your teeth, casting a look at Lani’s face and her wide eyes. She was terrified and so were you. But you couldn’t let the ship crash, no matter how tempting it sounded just to avoid seeing  _ him _ . You couldn’t let her die— your consciousness would never allow you to cause your child any harm. 

So you did. You found an area flat enough to make a landing amidst all the rocks and you took it. You landed the ship with a loud thud, your other engine finally exploding at the last second, making the whole cabin wobble and then crash down. Lani screamed at the explosion and then stopped when she watched the other fighter land in front of you, almost too  _ close _ to you. If you squinted hard enough you could almost make out his silhouette and the sharp angles of his mask. You looked away to ensure Lani was alright as you unstrapped from your own seat and knelt in front of her. 

“I’m sorry,” you told her, squeezing her small hands in your own. “I should have protected you better— I never thought… never could have imagined he’d find us so soon—”

“It’s him, right?” she quietly asked you. “I can feel him.”

You bit your lip and then slowly nodded your head. “Yeah— that’s… that’s your father,” you choked on the last word. “I have to go and talk to him. I want you to stay inside the ship, okay?”

“But I want to meet him—” she started arguing. 

“ _ No _ ,” you cried out. “Let me talk to him first. I need you to promise you’ll stay on the ship and don’t come out until I return to get you. Whatever happens outside, I need you to promise me.”

Lani stared at you with her wide eyes. “Mama, I’m scared. I don’t like you saying that—”

“It’s okay,” you ruffled her hair and then smiled. “I’m going to be alright. I haven’t seen him in a while… we just need to… talk. Just two adults talking, that’s all. Okay? Can you promise me?”

Lani gave you a small nod with her head. “Promise.”

You nodded back and then stood up, looking out the viewport to see the latch of his ship already open and no one present on the inside. He must be already waiting for you outside in the time it took for you to talk with Lani. You hurried off to the end of the ship, grabbing a hold of your blaster and programming its setting from stun back to fire. You weren’t taking any chances with him. You took a few breaths, trying to steady your fastly beating heart. You hoped you schooled your features enough to hide your fear and nervousness at the prospect of finally seeing him again. 

Then you pressed the button to lower the ramp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you're all still sticking here with me :)  
> I decided to go ahead and commit to update every weekend from now on so I don't leave you all guessing when I'll upload. So around Friday night/Saturday (hopefully that helps and hopefully I won't jinx myself and then stress myself out lol)  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next one will be fun one :)


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